I 



/ 



<& 






ft 


Xi 


& 


© 




& 
j^ 




£ 


*> 
5 


"S 


<CB 


a 


*- 


C 




O 


*** 

4-» 


'5 




w ..c re P 

R s S «> f 

q ra to jp c 

7—0 -5 

_ <u_ .= 

J ns as 

\- o o.a 

T <" ■a *" s. 

t <u £ * 

-> C-U-H J> 
< C 03 _£ J- 

2 +3 ° 0) ra 



"An era is fast approaching when no writers will be read by the majority, save and except those who 
ran effect for bales of manuscript what the hydrostatic screw performs for bales of cotton — condense into 
a period what before occupied a page." — ('otter. 

Y. M. C. A. EVERYDAY EDUCATOR 

AND 

COMPLETE BUSINESS MANUAL 



BY A NUMBER OF WELL-KNOWN INSTRUCTORS IN THE 
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 

INCLUDING 

C. AUSTIN CRONINGER 

Principal of The Commercial School of the Chicago Young Men's Christian Association 
and Instructor in Bookkeeping, Penmanship, etc. 

H. GRAHAM PATERSON \-\ , 

Instructor in Business, Letter Writing, Shorthand, Stenography and Typewriting in the Commercial School 

of the Chicago Young Men's Christian Association, and founder of the Paterson Institute. 

Chicago, a Shorthand anil Business Training School 



SELF-INSTRUCTION IN THE MODERN METHODS OF DOING BUSINESS 

THE WORLD'S GREAT PROGRESS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 

EXPLAINED AND ILLUSTRATED 

AND 

THE NEW SPELLING BY THE SIMPLIFIED SPELLING BOARD 



Brander Matthews, professor in Columbia Un= 

iversity. 
E. Benjamin Andrews, Chancellor of the Univer= 

sity of Nebraska. 
0. C. Blackner, Oak Park, 111. 
David J. Brewer, justice of the Supreme Court of 

the United States. 
Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Columbia 

University. 
Andrew Carnegie, New York. 
Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain), New York. 
Melvil Dewey, of the New York State Library. 
Isaac K. Funk, editor of the Standard Dictionary. 
Lyman J. Gage, ex=secretary of the treasury, New 

York. 
Richard Watson Gilder, editor of the Century 

Magazine. 
William T. Harris, commissioner of education, 

Washington, D. C. 
George Hempl, professor in the University of Mich= 

igan. 
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Cambridge, Mass. 



Henry Holt, New York. 

William James, professor in Harvard University. 

David Starr Jordan, president of Leland Stanford 

University. 
Thomas R. Lounsbury, professor in Yale Univer= 

sity. 
Francis A. March, professor in Lafayette College. 
William W. Morrow, U. S. Circuit judge, San 

Francisco, Cal. 
Homer H. Seerley, president of the State Normal 

School, Cedar Falls, Iowa. 
Benjamin E. Smith, editor of the Century Dic= 

tionary. New York. 
Charles E. Sprague, New York. 
Calvin Thomas, professor in Columbia University. 
E. 0. Vaile, Chicago, 111. 
William Hayes Ward, editor of the Independent, 

New York. 
Robert S. Woodward, president of the Carnegie 

Institution. 
Charles P. G. Scott, etymological editor of the 

Century Dictionary. 



SUPERBLY ILLUSTRATED WITH NEARLY FIVE 
PHOTOGRAPH-ENGRAVINGS 

Copyright by Henry Neil. 1907 



HUNDRED 












Tvv 




.^5. 


LIBRARY of CONGRESS 


. 


Two Copies Received 
JAN 4 1907 




^\ Gopyrltfrt Entry 
J COPY B. 


r 




PREFACE 




T is customary to burden the initial pages of a new publication 
with apologies. The publishers of this book have none to make. 
They have invested a large amount of diligent, painstaking 
labor and research, and no small amount of capital, and 
recognize the fact that they must depend upon merit and excellence 
for success. 

Gibbon has well said: "Every man has two educations: one which he 
receives from others, and one, more important, which he gives to himself." 
Sir Walter Scott emphasizes the sentiment when he says, using almost the 
same words: "The best part of every man's education is that which he 
gives to himself." 

The mind has been endowed with no more laudable or profitable ambition 
than that of self-improvement. The educated man, in every walk of life, 
carries with him his own capital — a capital unaffected by monetary crises; 
an investment whose interest is not regulated by the success of speculation; 
a treasure which none can dispute and of which none can deprive him. It is 
his greatest source of pleasure and profit, and it is the best legacy he can leave 
to his children. 

In preparing the present volume, it has been the endeavor of the pub- 
lishers to include several branches of study that may be useful in the busy 
life of these busy times, and a perusal of the book will convince the reader 
that every subject has been treated concisely and thoroughly, presenting in 
an attractive shape all those points that go to make a finished education. 
Practical application to the affairs of life has been constantly in view, and 
throughout has been maintained a systematic arrangement making reference 
easy, and a degree of artistic typography pleasing to the eye, making the 
search for knowledge doubly pleasurable. 

To the youth who has not had the advantages of an early education is 
here offered a means' of thorough self-instruction — a complete commercial 
college bound in a book. The business man who consults these pages will find 
a large variety of useful information. The professional man will have in this 
work a wealth of practical knowledge right at hand, saving both the 
expense of purchasing and the time of consulting a vast number of 
volumes. 



7 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY 
AND COMPLETE INDEX 

AN EASY METHOD OF "POSTING" ON ANY GIVEN SUBJECT 

THE following series of questions pertaining to the subjects treated in this 
volume is intended as a key to help unlock the great fund of information 
stored within its pages and to impress that information upon the mind. The 
list contains inquiries which point toward every quarter of human research and 
human achievement. It covers the universe, and touches all things which are wont 
to attract the attention and engross the minds of readers and thinkers. 

As we stated in the Introduction, the book itself is a compendium of knowl- 
edge prepared for the twentieth-century man or woman who is too busy to wade 
through dense volumes, in order to obtain facts and figures that are here presented 
in a nutshell. 

In daily business and social intercourse, all persons are at times confronted 
by problems requiring immediate solution. To aid in readily solving them, these 
questions are formulated and the responses indicated. They will be found to meet 
the constantly recurring needs of men and women in every vocation, serving as a 
medium of ready reference, not only to the student and the teacher, but to the me- 
chanic, the farmer, the artist, the railroader, the clerk, the housekeeper, the sports- 
man, the speculator, the clergyman, the inventor, and all seekers for useful knowl- 
edge. 

The asking and answering of these questions will be a benefit to all members 
around the evening fireside, and prove a welcome and unique entertainment at 
social gatherings, where knowledge as well as pleasure is the object in view. 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 

AIRSHIPS. 

Questions Answers Questions Answers 

Page Page 

What are the dimensions of the airships What has Portugal decided to do for the use 

which circled the Washington monument? 75 of her expedition against revolting tribes 

What is one of the chief problems regarding in West Africa? 165 

the Wellman airship? 101 How many feet did Prof. Jno. J. Montgom- 

How are the Wellman members busily en- ery's aeroplane plunge into the air ? 200 

gaged at Dane Island? 101 When was the aerial Rowboat built? 217 

Where is Dane Island located ? 101 By whom was the aerial Rowboat built?. , . . 217 



10 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY. 



AIRSHIPS— Continued. 



Questions Answers 

Page 

What country is well equipped for aerial 
warfare? 284 

On what lines is an Ohio inventor working 
regarding artificial wings? 382 

What did the American inventor, C. E. 
Irish use in constructing the flying ma- 
chine? 382 

In flight, what will the control of the flying 
machine depend upon? 383 



Answers 
Page 
How is the craft of the flying machine pro- 
pelled? 383 

For what purpose was the largest airship 
built? 391 

How long is the gas bag of the largest air- 
ship? 391 ' 

Where did the largest airship ever built, 
make its ascent? 391 



AUTOMOBILES. 



Where are autos being used to carry mail? . . 42 

What country has an armored auto? 47 

Where has a remarkable auto trip been 

made? ' 52 

Can automobiles shear sheep? 56 

What is the latest in wheels for autos? 58 

Can an auto pull a fire engine? 60 

Where are there special freight trains for 

, autos 64 

How can motorists tell when the rear light 

goes out? 70 

Of what material are automobile tires now 

being made? 90 

What is the latest use to which an automo- 
bile has been put? 92 

What is one of the great luxuries for auto- 

mobilists? 107 

What is the form for testing the jolt of autos? 116 
Is a motor sleigh faster than an automo- 
bile? 121 

Has the automobile hearse been found to be 

successful? : • 128 

What great advantage are automobiles in 

New Mexico? 164 

Of what are the imitation glass windows 

used in automobile tops made? 167 

What is the auto car? 208 

Where has an automobile testing machine 

been installed? 212 

What is the latest improvement in a morgue 

wagon in Fresno, Cal.? 221 

By what means are the dead and wounded re- 
moved from the battlefield during Ameri- 
can warfare? 231 

What system is recommended for ambul- 
ances, police and fire ambulances in Phila- 
delphia? 244 

By whom was the motor bus of 1832 built?. 257 



What is the length of the steam wagons used 
in Leeds, England? 276 

What is the horse power of the largest elec- 
tric motor ever built? 284 

How many motor cars were built in Great 
Britain last year? 285 

What is the mark ' set for the automobile 
races to be held in the Ormond-Daytona 
beach tournament? 287 

Where has a system of motor omnibuses 
been in use? 298 

What is the new system of illuminating 
"Darkest Africa?" 299 

Where is the dog motor in successful opera- 
tion? 315 

What great benefit is derived by the use of 
interurban auto lines? 323 

Where is the "Interurban Autoline" now in 
operation? 323 

What is a brief description of the gasoline 
electric motor car? 325 

An ' auto car in making a transcontinental 
trip, met with what misfortune? 326 

What are the indications regarding auto- 
track racing? 346 

What did Ex-Chairman Temple have to say 
about auto track racing? 346 

What is the style of the new auto known as? 362 

What will be the new style of autos? 362 

What is the new device intended to absorb 
the shock of spring play? 365 

How is the turntable for automobiles built? 366 

What auto craze seems destined to reach 
"Pat?" 372 

At what speed can the handleless handcar be 
driven? : 372 

Where are some of the finest automobile 
courses in the world? 378 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY. 



11 



AUTOMOBILES— Continued. 



Questions Answers 

Page 

How are auto offenders detected? 378 

How are auto scorchers caught? 378 

By what means are motorists who exceed 

speed limit trapped? 394 

What method of dealing with scorchers have 

the Chicago policemen discovered? 394 

How can dust caused by automobiles be pre- 
vented? 407 

What is the latest in police patrol wagons? 407 



Questions Answers 

Page 
How many people will the motor police 

patrol wagon accommodate? 407 

What is the new plan of reducing the shock 

caused by an automobile passing over a 

bump? : 411 

Of what use was a horseless carriage to an 

Ohio farmer? 412 

For what will Buenos Aires discard its 3,000 

horse drawn cabs? 334 



BALLOONS. 



What has Germany added to her army 
equipment? 33 

What is the shape of Germany's war bal- 
loon? 33 

What is the length of Germany's air bal- 
loon? : . 33 

What happened to a balloon voyage at Dane 
Island a few years ago? 101 



What perilous trip did two German soldiers 
make across the Baltic? 167 

How was the trip across the English Chan- 
nel made by two members of the Aero 
Club, England? 197 

By whom has a new type balloon been built? 366 

What is the name of the new type balloon?. 366 



BATTLESHIPS. 



What is the record run of the battleship 
"Georgia?" 44 

Why will the British "Dreadnaught" be 
superior to any other battleship? 49 

When was the "Bonhomme Richard" built? 55 

Are ships made unsinkable? 55 

What are the dimensions of the new twin 
battleships built for Japan? 94 

Will Japan rule the Pacific? 116 

What battleship has held the record for size 
for its chain cables? 130 

What was a curious feature of the ship 
Savannah? 139 

How can coal be bagged without shovelling 
it for warships? 163 

On what battleships will automobiles be 
carried? 176" 

What ship is termed the monarch of battle- 
ships? 195 

What will be the estimate cost of the "non- 
sinkable" battleship? 201 

By whom was the proposal of a "non-sink- 
able" battleship proposed? 201 

What are the dimensions of the "Dread- 
naught?" 248 



How will the British naval power compare 
with that of France, Germany and Russia 
in 1910? 249 

What battleship, the first of its kind, is to 
have an 18,000 ton turbine? 328 

What is the leading problem in the minds 
of the greatest naval engineers of to-day? 303 

What battleship of its class, now being con- 
structed, is being equipped with the heavi- 
est armor? 330 

When was Admiral Togo's flagship "Mikasa" 
destroyed by fire? 335 

What will Congress be asked to do regarding 
plans for battleships? 358 

How are other navies compared to the navy 
of the United States? 362 

How long has it been since the wreck of the 
"Maine?" 367 

What do the authorities claim regarding the 
standing of the "Maine" in the water?. . . 367 

What has been the cause of the "Maine" 
constantly sinking? 367 

What plan has been proposed to raise the 
"Maine?" 367 



12 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY 
BATTLESHIPS— Continued. 



Questions Answers 

Page 
What is the only possible means to raise the 

"Maine?" 367 

How many tons was the launching weight 
of the battleship "Katori?" 394 



Questions Answers 

Page 
Why is the use of conning towers on war- 
ships doomed? . . 413 

How many warships can be loaded with coal 
at a time? 415 



BRIDGES. 

Where is there an automobile bridge? 48 Over what river is a curious spiral bridge 

Where is the flattest arch bridge ever built built? 105 

located? 91 

What made the falsework so expensive in What caused the wreck of the Duluth Su- 

constructing the flattest arch bridge?. ... 91 perior Interstate Bridge? 246 



CANALS. 



Why was the Suez Canal widened? 34 

What is the size of the largest siphon in the 

world? 66 

When was the first attempt made to build 

the Corinthian Canal? 76 

How long will it take to build the Panama 

Canal? 76 

What will be the cost of the Panama Canal? 76 
What canal was cut through solid rock?. . . 76 
What will be the length of the proposed 

canal between the Baltic and Black Seas? 175 
By whom was the Panama Canal contract 

urged? 207 

What statement has President Roosevelt 

made regarding the lock system for the 

Panama Canal? 210 

What are the wages of working men in the 

Canal Zone? 271 



How is the payment made for working men 
in the Canal Zone? 271 

Where is the great Truckee-Carson Sink 
Canal? 273 

What was the largest cargo ever passed 
through the Suez Canal? 288 

What will the Panama Canal earn? 288 

How was the construction of the Panama 
Canal explained by John Barnett? 310 

What project has the Canadian Govern- 
ment provided? 367 

What is the connection of the Georgian Bay 
with the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers? 367 

What would be the cost to build this Cana- 
dian Canal? 368 

By whom was the first canal projected?. . . . 389 

What great canal celebrated its 15th anni- 
versary on August 3rd? 389 



CONSTRUCTION. 



What is the new method for foundations for 
building skyscrapers? 99 

What are the great quantities of material 
used in building foundations for sky- 
scrapers? 100 

Where is a steel armored hotel now being 
constructed? .• . 112 

What is the latest adaptation of cement con- 
struction? 112 

Where will a new steel city be erected?. . . . 139 

How is San Francisco built? 143 

What is the modern approved method of 
putting lead lines through underground 
conduit systems? 202 



Why was the lighthouse at Wittenbergen, 
Germany moved thirty feet? 221 

How are telephone towers constructed at 
Kansas City, Mo.? 230 

Where has a smokeless depot been erected? . 255 

In what country are gas plants being con- 
structed? 310 

In what short time was the most notable 
concrete construction made? 310 

For the benefit of lost travelers in the Alps, 
what sort of erections were built? 335 

Why was the lighthouse built in Mile Rock? 337 

How is the adjustable shaving mirror made? 368 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY. 



13 



DISASTERS. 



Questions Answers 

Page 

How was the steamboat "Juliette" wrecked? 106 

What unusual accident occurred at Fort 
Williams? 87 

What misfortune was met by the vessel 
"Louisanito?" 142 

What was the cause of the recent earth- 
quake? 132 

What are some of the incidents of the San 
Francisco earthquake? 148 

What was the cost of injury suffered by the 
steamer "Deutschland?" 255 



Questions Answers 

Page 

What fearful havoc occurred at Humble, 
Texas? 321 

Some four years ago, what ill fate did the 
steamship "Rio de Janeiro" meet with. . 338 

What was the cause of the Bennington acci- 
dent? 361 

What peculiar accident happened in Mil- 
waukee? 361 

Has the real cause of the disaster of the 18- 
hour race of the Lake Shore ever been 
known? 402 



DISCOVERIES. 



What was the latest effort to discover the 
drowned body of a boy at Union Lake, 
N. J.? 108 

Who was the discqyerer of the wonderful 
element, radium? ' 153 

How was Prof. Currie, discoverer of radium, 
killed? 153 

What great antidote for destroying the Lazy 
Bug was discovered by Capt. Ashford?. . 165 



How many trips has Captain Robert Peary 
made, in quest of the North Pole?.,., 248 

What discoverer claims to have reached the 
North Pole? : 276 

Who discovered the new process of coloring 
wood? 404 

Where has a remarkable gas well, a depth of 
280 feet been discovered? 406 



DOCKS. 

How are ships taken from the water, re- How are gravity docks located? 280 

paired and floated again? 278 

What is the construction and use of a dry dock? 278 What is the necessity of a dry dock? 280 



ELECTRICITY. 



What is the result of trolley and telephone 
wires crossing? 45 

How is the city of Mexico supplied with 
electric light? 71 

How many hours will the new electric lamps 
burn at a time? 104 

By whom was the electric lamp invented?. . 104 

Of what use is an electric automatic air com- 
pressor? 121 

What demand has been made on interurban 
electric cars? 132 

By whom was startling electrical currents 
demonstrated? 155 

How many letters will the ■ new electric 
stamping machine stamp in an hour?. ... 159 



Of what great assistance is the use of elec- 
tricity to the kitchen maid? 173 

How great is the demand for electricians in 
the navy? 181 

Where was the first trip made by the elec- 
tric gasoline car? 209 

By what means was the work carried on, at 
night, on a farm in England? 224 

What electrical device has been constructed 
for picking cotton? 244 

What is the approximate cost per night of 
the electrical displays at the "White 
City"? 295 

How many lights are in use on the tower at 
the "White City," in Chicago? 295 



14 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY. 



ELECTRICITY— Continued. 



Questions Answers 

Page 
What perilous work is now done with per- 
fect safety? 297 

What is an electric disinf ector? 302 

How is the electric disinf ector used? 302 

What is the proper method of desk lighting? 302 
What causes flashes of blue and white lights 

at night along trolley wires? 309 

What did a great English lineman have to 

say regarding trolley wires? 309 

What effort is being made to produce large 

quantities of electrical power? 318 

How are cement and concrete considered as 
a conductor of electricity? 330 



Questions . Answers 

Page 
By what means is a new filament for in- 
candescent lamps produced? 351 

How is the electric violin operated? 370 

Is the electric violin a success? 370 

How are men taught to run an electric car? 386 
What is the most difficult part about teach- 
ing men to run an electric car? 386 

For what home purpose may electricity be 

used? 397 

What fantastic and beautiful scenery is pro- 
duced on the Hudson River at night?. . . . 331 
Why will an electric current of 500 volts fail 
to kill when passing through a body?. . . . 334 



ENGINES. 



How are gasoline traction engines used on 
farms? , 42 

By whom was the smallest engine on earth 
made? 121 

Of what is the smallest engine made?. ...... 121 

How is the severe test of Producer-Gas En- 
gine known? 130 

What was done to an engine which, after 
having seen 30 years' experience, instead 
of going to the scrap heap? 189 

Where are twelve huge fighting engines of 
an entirely new type being built? 205 

What is the new crank mechanism for gas 
engines? 263 



How was a gas engine of 100 H. P. of a few 
years ago considered? 316 

What causes the mechanical efficiency of a 
gas engine to be lower trim a steam en- 
gine? 316 

What is the most important consideration 
in a design of large gas engines? 316 

In what respect are American gas engines 
great improvements over those of Euro- 
pean types? 316 

What was used to form the big crankshaft 
of one of the engines of a California gas 
engine electric station installation? 335 

Where has a notable example of wharf en- 
gineering been completed? 362 



EXPERIMENTS. 



What interesting experiments are being' con- 
ducted by the U. S. army?. . .' 133 

What was one man's experience by building 
a house on sand? 144 

How many feet of log measure were cut from 
American woods? 158 

Has the experiment of telephoning from 
New York to London proven to be a suc- 
cess? 174 



What is one of the useful things in power 
plant experiments? 174 

By what means is water power usually con- 
verted to compressed air? 176 

What were the tests of burning cartridges 
without danger being attached? 345 

What success have wireless experiments 
met with, on the Alton Railroad? '404 



FIRES AND FIRE EQUIPMENTS. 

How are many fires caused? 46 



How are fire mysteries solved? 46 

What is the capacity of the fire boat "Al- 
pha"? 88 



What is the best way of putting out a gaso- 
line fire? 109 

What is the latest fire alarm? 124 

What country leads the world in the develop- 
ment of its fire departments? 172 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY. 



15 



FIRES AND FIRE EQUIPMENTS— Continued. 



Questions Answers 

Page 

What city is far behind other cities of the 
world in its fire protection equipments?. . 199 

In what country do the people build novel 
fire engines to protect their homes? 243 

What recent thrilling incident was experi- 
enced by Chief Campion of the Chicago 
Fire Department? 275 

What new system is being tried with one 



Questions Answers 

Page 
engine company of the Chicago Fire De- 
partment? 298 

What city is best equipped for effective fire 
protection service? 313 

What is next in importance to a fire fighting 
apparatus? 313 

What test was recently made by western 
firemen? 346 



HIGH AND LARGE PLACES. 



What cities in California were found twelve 
feet closer after the earthquake? 34 

Where is the largest dry dock in the world? . 34 

How high is the largest thermometer in the 
world? 43 

Where are some of the notably high build- 
ings of the world located? 119 

How high is the largest steel construction in 
the world? .• 119 

Where is the largest steel structure in the 
world being erected? 119 

Where is the largest "Round house" in the 

world? : 220 

The largest Round-house in the world will 



accommodate how many locomotives at 
one time? 220 

Where are the largest freight docks in the 
world? 223 

How many tons of water will the largest 
bucket in the world hold? 290 

Where has the largest bucket in -the world 
been installed? 290 

In what large cities are large buildings for 
the purpose of expositions? 315 

In what city of the United States is the tall- 
est building in the world being con- 
structed? 334 

Where is the largest public bath located?. . 362 

By whom is the largest public bath patron- 
ized? 362 



INDUSTRIES. 



Could houses be made of concrete? 43 

What articles are now made of concrete? ... 43 

How are eggs canned? 57 

Are cement shingles cheaper than wooden 

ones? 58 

How is waste saw dust to be sterilized?. ... 77 

How can alcohol be produced? 88 

In what way will cheap alcohol benefit arts 

and science? 88 

What is the great industry in Samarat?. ... 89 

What is used in tempering glass? 108 

What is the new process of making bricks at 

Detroit? 119 

How is the making of cement cisterns con- 
sidered as a new industry? 128 

How are zinc articles cleaned? 130 

Is making barrels a wasteful industry?. . . . 140 

How is grain measured? 147 

Is quanying ice a new industry? 151 



What is the new improved system of con- 
crete piling? 162 

What is the healthiest trade in the world?. . 176 

How is violet aniline ink made? 180 

Of what use is pulverized glue in a small shop? 180 
Where does the largest supply of ice come 

from? 185 

What is the world's annual production of 

ivory? 185 

Where is Alaska tin being smelted? 193 

Of what use is alcohol for industrial pur- 
poses? 196 

What is probably the greatest detriment to 

the concrete block industry? 209 

What great improvements have been made 

in foundry work? 211 

What is the latest method of cooking in the 

largest hotels on the Pacific? 218 

How many years ago did cement originate? 221 



16 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY. 



INDUSTRIES— Continued. 



Questions Answers 

Page 

With whom did cement originate? 221 

How is cooking done in England? 222 

How are extraordinary result:; in picture 

making produced? 227 

How is filling for cracks in floors made?. . . . 229 
How is paper making a great industry?. . . . 232 

How is paper made? . . 233 

What is the annual coal production of the 

world? 235 

Of what use is turpentine? 264 

What is the new system of handling brick? . 287 
What valuable productions can be made 

from waste wood? 292 

How is the demand for rubber tires becom- 
ing an absolute necessity? 312 

Why are manufacturers using less pure rub- 
ber? 312 

What is industrial alcohol made from?. . . . 313 
Where is the largest wagon factory in the 

world?..'. 315 

From what is the word Macaroni derived?. 317 



Questions Answers 

Page 
How is macaroni made in this Country?. . . . 317 
What staple article of diet is considered the 

national food in Italy? 317 

For what purpose was macaroni introduced 

in the United States? 317 

What. is the custom of erecting lime kilns?. 319 
How do American oil tanks differ from Rus- 
sian tanks?. 320 

How is the filling for pies made? 324 

What use can be made of sawdust? 329 

What is the strongest material used for mak- 
ing rope? 339 

How is manilla rope made? 339 

What is the consumption of carbine in 

France? 342 

Are clay products a great industry? 347 

How is varnish made? 358 

How many barrels of crude oil were pro- 
duced in the United States during the year 

1904? 401 

What kind of wood is now being used for 
making furniture? 404 



INVENTIONS. 



Who was the inventor of the German war 
balloon? 33 

How is a water kite made? 61 

How are rowing muscles developed without 
a boat? 64 

Who invented an apparatus to make the 
dead breathe? 69 

What has been invented to prevent sea 
sickness? 90 

What is the new invention for repairing 
ships?. 121 

What novel method was resorted to in order 
to complete a summer home at Lake 
Geneva, Wis.? : 142 

What device has been made on motor cars 
to protect pedestrians? 160 

By whom was a descent of 204 feet into the 
water accomplished? 183 

Why was an apparatus for hot-beds in- 
vented? 192 

What great apparatus has Dr. P. E. Shaw 
invented for measuring purposes? 184 

How is a sky-banner kite made? 206 

What new device has been invented for the 
comfort of ocean passengers 245 

What is the latest contrivance for prevent- 
ing sea sickness? . 245 



What is the telantograph? 248 

Has Santos Dumont been successful in his 

most recent attempt? 254 

Of what use is the four-key lock? 263 

What is the dictograph? 272 

What is the hydroplaine? 289 

What airship inventor was greatly disap- 
pointed with his demonstration in Chi- 



cago : 



322 

How does Mr. Knabenshue describe an air- 
ship? 322 

What apparatus is used for filtering the ex- 
haled breath for miners? 326 

How was the steam grader invented? 334 

What is a Telemobiloskop? , 338 

How is an electric piano made? 343 

What is the new invention in the line of fire 

protection apparatus? 347 

Where was the clock with thirteen dials 

made? 365 

What device has been proposed by a Nor- 
wegian in locating fish? 404 

What machine is the inventor Gilbert 
Stringer putting on the market which is 

similar to the linotype? 413 

What kind of curtains have been installed in 
German theaters? 344 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY. 
LAUNCHES. 



17 



Questions Answers 

Page 
What makes the pleasure launch so popular? 84 
Where is the motor placed in the modern 
launch? 84 



Questions Answers 

Page 

How is the launch started? 84 

What fuel power has demonstrated its fit- 
ness for motors, launches, etc.? 313 



LOCOMOTIVES. 



How did a locomotive lay a submarine 
cable? • 50 

Where were locomotives built for Africa?. . 56 

How are Spanish locomotives different from 
other locomotives? 61 

What kind of locomotives are being built for 
the Lackawanna railroad? 70 

What is the weight of the engine used on 
the Damascus & Mecca Railway, Pales- 
tine? 75 

What has proved to be the best appliance 
for train illumination? 93 

What is a locomotive engine? 109 

What is the speed of the latest American 
electric locomotive? 123 

What is the latest cab signal for locomo- 
tives? 149 

How is the cab signal for locomotives ope- 
rated? 150 

Where are the best locomotives in the world 
built? 160 

What accident happened to a land company 
locomotive at Leesville, La.? 204 

What kind of locomotives has the Swiss 
government decided to use in the Simplon 
Tunnel? 222 

What railroad company has built the heavi- 
est locomotive of the world? 228 

What is the average tractive power of loco- 
motives? 251 

What was one of the largest single orders for 
locomotives? 254 

What is the speed per hour of a Bavarian 
locomotive? 258 



What kind of a new locomotive is used up 
Pike's Peak? 263 

How are locomotives built in Minnesota?. . 275 

Where has the highest speed locomotive 
been made? 283 

What is the new method of loading locomo- 
tives? 294 

What railroad built the most powerful loco- 
motive in the world? 299 

How is the novel French locomotive de- 
scribed? 314 

What has Engineer M. du Bosquet designed 
to avoid the use of two locomotives?. . . . 314 

What device is intended to lessen the tre- 
mendous draft in a locomotive? 328 

What kind of locomotives have been con- 
structed by an Underground Electric 
Railway Co. of London? 334 

How many horse power will the new electric 
locomotive of the New York Central be? 353 

Why was the discovery of a locomotive in 
the woods in Columbia, South America a 
mystery? 358 

What is the weight of the tandem compound 
tank-locomotive? 381 

What are the dimensions of the drivers of 
the new compound tandem locomotive?. 381 

What is the weight of the locomotive car 
built by an English firm? 388 

What is the cost of operation per mile of the 
locomotive car? 388 

How are locomotives tested? 416 

How can the wear on locomotive wheel tires 
be decreased? 333 



LUMBERING. 



For what is the Pacific Coast noted? 193 

What kind of timber is used in making poles? 261 
What method is used for preserving timber 

from ants? 286 

How is yellow pine considered commer- 
cially? 319 



How many kinds of yellow pine are 
there? 319 

Why is the price of colored wood furniture 
high? 404 

Of what use is gum wood in manufacturing 
furniture? 331 



18 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY. 
MACHINERY. 



Questions Answers 

Page 

What is the new trap for lobsters? 50 

How are trees cut by machine? 59 

What is the horse power of the generating 
machinery of the longest transmission 
line in the world? 72 

Of what does the new milking machine con- 
sist? 85 

How is the milking machine operated?. ... 85 

What device has been made to cool the air 
in sleeping cars? 92 

What is the general arrangement of the 
power house at Des Plaines, 111.? 98 

For what purpose is the compressed air plant 
at Des Plaines, 111. used? 98 

By whom was the new electrical stamping 
machine invented? 159 

For what purpose has a 900 H. P. water tur- 
bine at Sewall's Falls, New Haven, been 
designed? 177 



Questions Answers 

Page 
Where has one of the largest rotary pump 

plants in the world been erected? 199 

For what purposes will the largest rotary 

pump plant be used? 199 

How is the one-hand sawing machine oper- 
ated? 265 

How does an acetylene generator work?. . . 265 

How does a gas producer work? 300 

By what means are Westinghouse horizontal 

gas engines started? 316 

Where was a successful demonstration made 

of the air-lift pump? 320 

Where have two steam grader machines 

been sent? 334 

What are the dimensions of the largest steam 

boiler ever made? 357 

What kind of pumps are used for deepening 

the inlet to the New York harbor? 343 



MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 



How can the flesh be cut without leaving a 
scar when closed? 70 

What great experiment has a renowned Bel- 
gian surgeon been successful with in 
cases of fracture? 175 

What great benefit is the X-Ray? 200 

Why have authorities at Birmingham, Eng- 



land, stopped the quarter-hour chimes on 
the big town clock from ringing? 291 

What precaution is recommended by Dr. 
Spalding, on germs? , 315 

What treatments for numerous ailments are 
medical experts of to-day using? 412 

What science has assisted the surgeon of 
to-day in no longer exploring cavities in 
darkness in the human body? 334 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Is the English Channel an unconquered 

problem? 35 

Where is the largest thermometer in the 

world? 43 

What is the cost of clearing land of stumps? 44 
Is the air always fresh in the New York sub- 
way? 47 

How many kinds of iron ore are there?. ... '51 

What is the weight of an iron ore pile?. ... 51 

What is the cost of coal in Brazil? 52 

How many tons of coal do the English coal 

cars hold ? 54 

How is a good imitation walnut stain made? 57 
What is the weight of the largest stone 

crusher ever built? 59 



When does a buggy appear to move while 

the wheels stand still? 61 

When should galvanized iron roofs be 

painted? 62 

What city is to have a municipal plant?. . . 64 
What percent of gas is lost through leakage? 67 
What is one of the great dangers to water 

mains? 68 

How can a gun barrel be made smooth?. ... 68 
Why will Mexico City be the smokeless city? 73 
What is the method of communication be- 
tween vessels at sea?. 86 

What is used for communication when the 
wind blows in a line between two ships?. . 87 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY. 
MISCELLANEOUS— Continued. 



19 



Questions Answers 

Page 

What law was passed by Congress recently 
regarding the use of alcohol? 88 

Why is it not practical to make alcohol on a 
small scale? . . . 88 

How is it ascertained whether the center 
lines of the two surfaces of a lens exactly 
coincide? 91 

Where did a woman paint a sign? 93 

What is the new method of exploring Green- 
land? 94 

What new method has a hardware man 
adopted for selling cook stoves? 106 

By what means is water sterilized? 106 

How was the Ferris Wheel destroyed? 107 

Where was the largest lehr in the United 
States recently installed? 108 

How long a time will it require to clean San 
Francisco of vast debris? 110 

What are the measurements of the largest 
carpet in the world? . . . ." 112 

How does the inspection of meats in France 
differ from that in the United States?. . . 114 

What was the most sensational rescue ever 
made at the Niagara Falls? 115 

What is the comparative cost of 50 H. P. by 
several motive powers? 127 

How is the instrument that records earth- 
quakes operated? 131 

What is the cost of the lighting bill for the 
United States? 142 

How many general methods are there for 
making welded rail joints? 157 

What is the comparison horse power of the 
average tug to that of the average loco- 
motive? 157 

For what purpose is a cable car used in a 
green house? 158 

What precaution are cobwebs and fine dust 
in a mill? ■ 168 

What was the amount of domestic freight 
during 1905, on the Detroit River? 170 

What is the average life of a tar worker?. . . 176 

How can shallow waters be made navigable? 177 

How are the houses built for winter gardens 
in Oregon? 184 

How is the property of ivory so remarkably 
classed? 185 

Corn in normal condition contains how much 
water? 186 

How was the Prince of Wales entertained 
while making a trip through India? 186 



Questions Answers 

Page 
What kind of gas meters are in common use 

in England? 186 

What peculiarity is there about hair? 186 

What is the perilous work of a diver during 

the spring time? 191 

What assistance has been rendered lost 

travelers in California? 199 

How many miles can a powerful searchlight 

throw its rays? 200 

Where has the sky-banner kite attracted 

much attention? 207 

How did the late Prof. Langley, head of the 

Smithsonian Institute begin life? 208 

When will the World's Fair in New Zealand 

be held? 210 

For what is the climate of New Zealand 

noted? 210 

Of what value is power? 216 

What remarkable demonstration was made 
by the "Mechanical Wizzard" at Wash- 
ington? 224' 

What is considered the most perfect non- 
conductor of heat and cold? 224 

What prisoner is known as the "Mechanical 

Wizzard"? 224 

Where do passengers pay their car fare be- 
fore entering the car? 235 

How is a temporary hot-bed made? 236 

What is the cost of painting the Statue of 

Liberty? 246 

Of what use is acetylene? 265 

What great value is whitewash? 259 

What are the dangers of city life? 264 

On what occasion was a spectacular scene 

demonstrated by the British squadron? 285 
Why is the occupation of a ship builder de- 
funct? 287 

How are hounds trained in England? 308 

What is the cost of furnishing a man- 
sion? , 315 

What amount of money is spent by Ameri- 
can people yearly for furniture? 315 

Where has a large pile of saw dust been ac- 
cumulating for years? 329 

For what is Mile Rock noted? 337 

How does pop corn differ from field corn?. . 338 
What is the use of acetylene in France?. . . 342 
Is the burning of cartridges considered dan- 
gerous? 345 

Where has a most complete system of water 
works been unearthed? 356 



20 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY. 
MISCELLANEOUS— Continued. 



Questions Answers 

Page 

What was the English opinion of American 
boiler inspection? 357 

How large can reinforced sewer pipes be 
made? . ■. 361 

How are capped projectiles made? 363 

What is accomplished by passengers who 
pay fares on cars in Mexico? 365 

Is more or less skill required to run an elec- 
tric car than to run a horse car? 386 

What daring trip has the Czar of Russia re- 
cently undertaken? 372 



Questions Answers 

Page 

During the annual cleaning in the U. S. 
mint, how much gold dust was scraped 
from nineteen chimneys? 395 

What is the weight in ashes of a cremated 
body? 398 

How is cremation as a means of disposing of 
bodies gaining in favor? 398 

What is the estimated amount of water util- 
ized? 404 

What country uses the largest amount of 
water power? 404 



MOTOR CYCLES. 



How are motor-cycles made comfortable in 
France? 90 

For what purpose is the motor-cycle used in 
Norway? 175 

Where were the honors for speed on the 
motor-cycle carried off? 320 



How many miles were covered by the Pen- 
got? 320 

How is the motor-cycle side car constructed? 396 
How is the motor-cycle side car the inter- 
mediate carriage between the motor-cycle 
and the automobile? 395 



PHOTOGRAPHY. 



What does the process of making fluid lenses 

consist of? 83 

Why are fluid lenses cheaper than glass 

lenses? 83 

How are lenses tested? 91 

What is the process of polishing lenses?. ... 91 

When is glass more valuable than gold?. . . 112 



By whom is the largest camera owned?. ... 156 
By whom was the aerial camera made?. . . . 197 
Of what great use is the aerial camera?. . . . 197 
Has the telegraphic transmission of photo- 
graphs proven successful? 374 

By whom was the telegraphic transmission 
of photographs invented? 374 



POPULAR AMUSEMENTS. 



Where is the world's greatest toboggan? . . . 269 
How many feet can a toboggan descend in a 



minute on the longest toboggan in the 
world? 269 



RAILROADS. 



Will it ever be possible to go from New York 

to London by rail? 35 

Who is general manager of the Northern 

Railway of France? 36 

How many miles of steam railroads has 

Japan? 44 

What railroad has installed photograph cars? 76 
Where was the first steel steam passenger 

car built? 80 



What is the latest radical change for sleep- 
ing cars? 113 

What were the largest structural steel 
pieces ever moved by rail? 138 

What train makes the longest non-stop of 
any in the British Isles? 141 

What state will outdo Illinois regarding 
railroad mileage? 144 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY. 
RAILROADS— Continued. 



21 



Questions Answers 

Page 

What amount of money has been proposed 
yearly for good roads? 153 

When did the first train pass through the 
Simplon Tunnel? 207 

For what great purposes has the Transcon- 
tinental Railway been built in Australia? 219 

Where is the only railway system in 
Alaska? 245 

What is the approximate speed per hour of 
a railroad train? 252 

What is said of the navigation on the 
Yukon? 267 

What was the pride of railroad men in the 
year 1870? 277 

What does the present year promise to do 
for the construction of railroad equip- 
ments? 313 

Are the railroad companies burdened with 



Questions • Answers 

Page 
heavy expense for the use of interurban 
auto lines? 323 

What will the railroad track of the future be? 353 

Where has the finest observation car been 
built? ' 356 

Where are the largest steam turbines under 
construction? 377 

What railroad has reduced the piling of ties 
to a science? 400 

How many miles of steam railway are now 
being operated in Japan? 401 

How many thousand steel ties have been or- 
dered by the B. & L. E. R. R. Co.? 407 

What is the new type freight car wheel 
called? 411 

How is the electrical train bulletin operated 
by the C. & A. R. R. Co.? 411 

How is the railway asphalt plant built?. . . . 332 



REFRIGERATION. 



What flower bulbs are kept in cold stor- 
age? 60 

How can an ice house be filled with one solid 
cake of ice? 82 

How are fresh fish preserved for years before 
serving? 192 

When was refrigeration first applied to 
steamers? 252 

How many meat refrigerators are there in 
New Zealand? 252 



How was a cold storage plant served by a 
steam roller? 296 

How many hours are required to thoroughly 
chill fruit? 313 

How is the new process for icing cars in Cali- 
fornia being tried? 313 

What is the latest improvement for keeping 
fruit in good condition while on the road? 348 

How are the large buildings of to-day sup- 
plied with ice? 390 



RUSSIAN- JAPANESE WAR. 



What was the underlying cause of the defeat 
of Russia in the late war with Japan?. . . 95 

By what means did the Japs win a great 
victory? 257 

What great trick did Togo plan to fool the 
Russians? 366 



What act of kindness did the Japanese be- 
stow on Russian prisoners? 389 

Why were Russian prisoners not over anxious 
about being released from Japanese 
prisons? 389 



SCHOOLS. 



Where will a school for machinists be estab- 
lished by the navy? 89 

Where is a college of aeronautics being es- 
tablished? 118 

Who are the students in the navy? 181 

How many men will be accommodated at 
the finest naval school in the world?. . . . 226 

Where has a school for training stokers been 



established ? f 235 

How is navigation taught with wagon wheels 

in England? 251 

What course of instruction for fitting 
boys to become apprentices in a Penn- 
sylvania railroad shop has been ad- 
opted? , 374 



22 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY. 



SPRINKLER SYSTEM. 



Questions Answers 

Page 
What kind of system is the automatic 
sprinkler? 355 



Questions Answers 

Page 
How many sprinkler systems are there? . . . 355 
Is a sprinkler system expensive? 355 



STEAMBOATS. 



Has Russia boats that sail direct from 
Russia to America? 55 

What are the sailing days of ocean steamers? 64 

What ship has the highest record? 66 

Where does a steamboat climb a hill? 77 

What are the dimensions of the largest 
freight steamer in the world? 80 

For what purpose are vessels in the tropics 
used? 98 

Is the capacity of freight steamers increas- 
ing? 129 

How many tons was the sailing craft of the 
"Savannah"? 139 

How many minutes was the Atlantic 
steamer "La Provence" lowered in her 
trip from Havre to New York? 151 

What are the dimensions of the steamship 
"Governor Cobb"? 152 

Where was the first turbine propelled 
steamship launched? 152 

What are the dimensions of the most mag- 
nificent lake craft ever built? 179 

For what is the steamer "Henrik Hudson" 
noted? 198 

How many passengers will the steamer 
"Henrik Hudson" accommodate? 198 

How is the steamer "Henrik Hudson" built? 198 

Where are four of the largest fresh water 
boats in the world under process of con- 
struction? 201 



What sort of a contrast does the engine 
room of a turbine steamer present? 204 

What protection has been provided for 
horses on ferry boats? 218 

Who is the only woman captain on the 
Great Lakes? 258 

What steam yacht does the woman captain 
command? 258 

Has the size limit of ocean steamers been 
reached? 270 

What is the horse power of each turbine 
ship? 369 

In what respect do turbine ships surpass 
their elder sisters of the deep?, 369 

What is the length of the two turbine ships 
recently constructed by England? 369 

What has been the result of the test voyages 
made on the Allen liner "Victorian"?. . . . 376 

What improvements have been made re- 
garding turbine boats? 376 

When were red and green lights on steamers 
first required on British boats? 381 

How is the largest ferry-boat sheathed?. . . . 399 

What are dimensions of the largest ferry- 
boat? 399 

The largest ferry-boat in the world runs on 
what river? 399 

What firm has something new in systems 
for unloading bulk cargoes from vessels? 414 

What are the great advantages of unloading 
bulk cargoes 414 



SUBMARINE BOATS. 



How was the power of submarine signals 
discovered? 85 

What government is experimenting with a 
new type of submarine torpedo boat?. . . 90 

What is the latest device for launching even- 
keel submarines? 150 

How many feet did a submarine diver de- 
cend into the water? 183 

With what knowledge do officers enter sub- 
marines? 384 

When was the " Farfadet" submarine boat 
lost? 384 

What does the failure of any of the hundred 



parts of a submarine boat mean? 384 

What is causing the engineers of submarine 
boats to seek some methods of relief?. . . . 384 

What does architect S. H. Terry say regard- 
ing submarine boats? 385 

What was the name given the first subma- 
rine boat? 393 

How many years ago was the first subma- , 
rine boat built? 393 

By whom was the first idea of a submarine 
boat conceived? 393 

For what purpose are white mice carried on 
submarine boats? 400 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY. 
TELEGRAPHY. 



23 



Questions Answers 

Page 
Where was an unusual feat in telegraphy re- 
cently accomplished? 234 

What system has the Japanese government 



Questions Answers 

Page 

contrived for using telegraphy? 406 

Have the Japanese an alphabet for using 
telegraphy? 406 



TELEPHONES. 



Why did Glasgow sell the telephone depart- 
ment to private parties? 34 

Wnere are railway telephones free? 52 

Is long distance telephoning perfected?. ... 146 
Where is a cheap phone rate being agitated? 193 
Of what use is a telephone to an employer? 193 
What kind of poles will take the place of the 

old wooden telegraph poles? 203 

Where and how has the telephone played an 

important part? 219 

How many miles of telephone poles are in 

use in the United States? 261 

What is the latest use of the telephone?. . . . 264 



What was the message sent through a tele- 
phone installed on a small pier in Salt 
Lake? 271 

Why were telephones installed on chairs in 
a barber shop in Paterson, N. J.? 275 

What great miracle was performed by the 
use of a telephone? 322 

What has an electrical expert invented to 
prevent the hello girl from listening to a 
conversation? 348 

Where is the largest telephone system in the 
world? 407 

What has the rapid extension of the tele- 
phone necessitated? 406 



TORPEDO BOATS. 



What is the latest American torpedo boat? 49 
What is the shape of the "Lake" torpedo 

boat? 49 

By whom has the best argument been ad- 



vanced for the torpedo boat? 303 

How many miles an hour does the torpedo 

boat destroyer, "Whiting" travel? 304 

What is the cost of a torpedo boat? 305 



TRANSPORTATION. 



What kind of ferry boats are used at Dieux 
Port, Marseilles, France? 41 

Can a trolley car move a house? 124 

What conveyance was used in moving the 
castings for the new Cunarders from Dar- 
lington to Wallsend, England? 138 

What are the transportation facilities in 
Alaska? 194 

In what way is the local transportation fur- 
nished the Prince of Wales in India?. . . . 215 

By whom was a trip of 720 miles in an elec- 
tric car made? 220 

What plans have been made to cross the 
ocean in ten hours? 225 

How is milk shipped from Denmark to Ber- 
lin? 243 

By what means are the people enabled to 



mount the summit of the Hamuet 
Schwand Mountain? 312 

What state is considered the "net work" for 
interurban trolley lines? 323 

How many bunches of bananas were im- 
ported by one company in one year?. . . . 348 

How is the transportation of bananas pecu- 
liar? 348 

Where has an apparatus been constructed 
which transports all boats from one canal 
to another? 352 

What is the distance from Chicago to Liver- 
pool, via the Great Lakes? 367 

In what state was the first steel car in opera- 
tion? 374 

What is said about the transportation facili- 
ties of the Congo Free State? 333 



24 



REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR HOME STUDY. 

TUNNELS. 



Questions Answers 

Page 
What are some of the proposed tunnels?. . . 35 
How could a tunnel be built under the Eng- 
lish Channel? 36 

What is to be the new building material for 

tunnels? 63 

What new tunnel route is proposed? 87 

What is peculiar about the elevators in a 
tunnel in Boston? Ill 



Questions Answers 

Page 

How often is the twopenny tube white- 
washed in London? 154 

What is the length of the tunnel under the 
San Francisco Bay? 182 

Of what material will the San Francisco Bay 
tunnel be built? 182 

What will be the use of building the Sierra 
Nevada tunnel? 386 



VEHICLES. 



Where is the finest milk wagon in the world? 39 

For what purpose were the largest steam 
ambulances in the world built? 93 

What country has immense wagons for haul- 
ing grain? 97 

Where is a new type of motor-propelled 
vehicle being tested? 185 

What is considered the safest vehicle in 
London? 306 



How are wheels for heavy vehicles 
built? ,312 

What does the application of power for large 
vehicles necessitate? 312 

For what purpose were the army wagons 
built in France? 350 

What effort has been made to secure a stand- 
ard of height for farm wagons? 399 



WAR APPLIANCES. 



How are American siege guns fired? 65 

What kind of a machine is being tested by 
German naval officials? 105 

What country will build the first derelict de- 
stroyer? 105 

What was the cost to build the largest gun 
in the world? 146 



What report was issued by the Department 
of Interior, regarding different metals?. . 330 

What difference is there between one Euro- 

, pean quick-firing gun and another? 380 

What is the great advantage afforded by 

modern quick-firing guns? 379 

What places the shock of the discharge of a 

cannon? 379 



WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. 



How old is wireless telegraphy? 40 

What country has wireless telegraphy on 

trains? 50 

What apparatus soon to be perfected, has 

Marconi in hand? 123 

By what means will the Weather Bureau 
warn ships of storms at sea? 164 



How is wireless block signal system de- 
clared? 260 

Wireless telegraphy is installed on what 
American ship? 384 

What unsuccessful experience have two 
steamers met with regarding a wireless 
apparatus? 401 



HOW WALL PAP ER IS MANUFACTURED 

Vivid Contrast with Earlier Times ~- Annual Consumption 250,000,000 Rolls 



By W. Prank McClure 




Pig. 1— Cutting the Finished Wall Paper. Fig. 2— Printing Rollers Showing Designs. 

Books. Fig. 4== Engraving a Printing Roller. 



Fig. 3==Making Sample 



Wall paper was not always made in webs 
or rolls and in the multitudinous designs 
and colors with which we are familiar to- 
day. Although it is claimed that the Chi- 
nese did, to some extent, use paper for 
wall decorations, the early history of wall 
coverings, in the main, is lost in the hand- 
woven tapestries which adorned the sides 
of the first Jewish palaces or the palatial 
living quarters of the ancients of the Far 
East. For centuries the countries of Europe 
knew no other wall covering than hangings 
of cloth and leather. Some time after the 
United States was settled, tapestries made 
their appearance in this country but never 
found the favor that was accorded them in 
the Old World. Then came the real wall 



paper in imitation of tapestry, but not in 
rolls. To the contrary, it was made in 
sheets and was sold by the booksellers at a 
fancy price. For a long time it could only 
be afforded by the rich. Today a roll print- 
ed in numerous colors can be had for a 
cent and the most menial laborer refreshes 
his domicile by a new coat of paper with 
notable frequency. 

The United States, but loosely fettered 
to the conventional tapestries, in due time 
broke away from somber colors and early 
ideas with the result that nowhere on the 
globe can such a variety of designs be 
found. As our population has increased 
and moved into new territory, and the pior 
neer cabins have given place to better homes, 



29 



30 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



the wall paper Industry has kept growing, 
until today our annual consumption in this 




Paper Leaving Press 

country is about 250,000,000 rolls with no 
prospect of a decreasing demand. Ten 
thousand people are employed in the wall 
paper industry aside from those who sell 
the product and those engaged in hanging 
it upon the walls. 

The paper for modern wall hangings is 
made from wood pulp and arrives at the 
wall paper factory in huge rolls from which 
it is fed into the printing machines. It 
comes in at least four different thicknesses. 

The chief preliminary operations to the 
actual printing of the paper are the making 
of the pattern rollers and the mixing of the 
colors. Both operations require skilled 
workmen. A slight mistake in the prep- 
aration of a single tint might mar the 
beauty of an entire pattern. All the tints 
must be kept uniform throughout each pat- 
tern. The many colors used in the making 
of wall paper come to the factory in their 
raw state from different parts of the coun- 
try and are prepared in vats and handled 
In buckets. 

The designs for wall paper are first 



sketched and then painted by hand. The 
pattern is then transferred to rollers. Each 
color is applied to the paper by a distinct 
roller. One roller, for example, prints the 
leaves of a floral design and another the 
petals of a rose. The rollers are usually 
cut from maple wood. The outline for a 
design is marked upon a roller and then a 
workman with a sharp instrument cuts this 
outline into the wood to a stated depth. A 
brass strip is next shaped and then pounded 
into this outline, only a portion of it, how- 
ever, is imbedded in the roller, the remain- 
der constitutes a raised outline correspond- 
ing to that which was first drawn and then 
cut upon the roller. This outline is sub- 
sequently filled in with felt cut to fit. For 
a workman to make an entire wall paper 
aecign consisting of sides, ceiling and bor- 
der often requires weeks of time. A pat- 
tern calling for ten colors would require 
ten rollers for the sides, another set for 
the ceiling, and still another set for the 
border. These rollers, when not in use, 
are stored in tiers after the manner illus- 
trated in one of the accompanying photo- 
graphs. 



7 


*«*. 


... 

r 

L : yf&fijs 





Where the Colors Are Mixed 

Before the white paper reaches the rollers 
of the printing machine it passes through 
a device equipped with mechanical brushes 
which apply the background. As it leaves 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



31 



this device it is gathered 
up in festoons and auto- 
matically carried to the 
opposite end of the build- 
ing over a system of steam 
pipes, while simultaneous- 
ly hot air is blown into 
the folds, all of which 
dries the freshly applied 
background in preparation 
for its journey through 
the printing machine 
proper. It is now carried 
for some distance upon 
a cloth web to a large 
drum — a conspicuous fea- 
ture of the printing ma- 
shine. This drum brings 
the paper to be printed in 
contact with the printing 
rolls. Each roller is sup- 
plied with its respective 
color from a separate re- 
ceptacle and each recepta- 
cle in turn is kept well 
filled at all times by at- 
tendants with buckets. 
After leaving the printing 
machine the operation of 
gathering the paper into 
festoons and its transpor- 
tation over steam pipes is repeated. All 
this is decidedly in contrast to the days of 
70 years ago when small sheets of wall 
paper were printed by hand from wooden 
blocks. In 1843, a machine was invented by 
a Yankee for printing two colors at the 
same time. It was considered a great 
achievement. 

On the modern wall paper machine there 
is an automatic device which measures the 
finished paper into double rolls and places 
upon the margin a small black line while 
at the same time it registers the number 
of rolls turned out. Girls at machines cut 
the webs of paper into double rolls after 
which the requisite number are tied into 
bundles ready for shipment. 

The present styles in wall paper are very 
unique and beautiful. There is quite a 
tendency again toward the old tapestry 
designs and a decided demand for pictur- 
esque papers embracing scenery and birds. 
Dutch children, Mother Goose, and even an- 
imals figure in the wall paper of the nur- 
sery and, as in the days of a century ago, 
there is a demand for marine scenery on 
the walls or upon borders. Large floral 




Rotary Wall Paper Printing Press 

designs in gorgeous effects are likewise very 
salable. 

Every time the style changes, and this 
is often in America, new sample books must 
be made up. In fact sample books are pre- 
pared every year. A visit to a wall paper 
factory would not be complete without a 
glimpse at the sample department. Tons 
of paper are used in this way by many 
factories. These books are made up a year 
or so in advance of the styles on the mar- 
ket. Designers and pattern makers work 
far in advance. Much of the printing, too, 
must be done a year ahead. 
♦ » ♦ 

TO TELL 50 POUNDS OF ICE 



If you would know whether your dealer 

gives you full weight when you order ice, 

use your tape measure. A 50-lb. block should 

be 15 in. long, 10 in. deep and 10 in. broad. 

» • » 

The military medical and hospital corps 
of Turkey uses a red crescent as its emblem, 
instead of the red cross used by other coun- 
tries. This is in deference to the soldiers' 
religious opinions. 



32 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



F 







,ric* 




The Sea's Toll for 1905--1.038 Vessels 

ONE YEAR'S TOLL OF THE SEA. — The occasional account In daily papers of a vessel lost 
at sea gives no adequate idea of the magnitude of marine disasters. During 1905 the losses 
amounted to a great fleet: 389 steamships and 649 sailing vessels, a total of 1,038. The fact 
Is graphically portrayed by the London Illustrated News, from which the above illustration 
is taken. 



GREAT PHILIPPINE NAVAL BASE 



Improvements to Cost $l,000,000==lrapregnable For- 
tifications to be Established. 



At Port Olongopo, not far from Cavite, in 
the Philippines, and where the huge dry- 
dock "Dewey" is now stationed, the Govern- 
ment is establishing a large and completely 
equipped naval base at an estimated cost of 
$10,000,000. Enormous machine shops, eight 
of them all told, and roomy and perfectly 
appointed quarters for officers and men are 
among the specifications, while the fortifi- 
cations are to be such that danger from at- 
tack by sea will be minimized to the lowest 
degree. 

The coaling system will comprise six 
units, all in duplicate, and each made up of 
a steel and concrete wharf 250 ft. long and 
80 ft. wide, a storage shed of 15,000 tons 
capacity (sufficient to coal four to six large 
ships) and modern coal-handling apparatus. 
The deck of each wharf will be 42 in. thick 
along the outer edge, where the load is 
heaviest, and 24 in. thick at the shore. 
Along the shore a concrete retaining wall is 
being built into which the decks of the 
wharves extend. Huge pillars of concrete, 
4 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and going down to 
a depth of 39 ft. in some places, will be used 
to support the wharves. 

The conveying machinery on each wharf 
will be able to unload and store the coal 



from a collier at the rate of 200 tons per 
hour, and a battleship can be coaled twice 
as fast. The coal handling apparatus in- 
cludes belt conveyer systems and traveling 
cranes with clam-shell buckets. An electric 
alarm system will warn of fires in any of 
the wharf bunkers and powerful pumping 
apparatus is to be provided for fire protec- 
tion. A notable feature is the absence of 
wood construction throughout, offering noth- 
ing for the white ants and teredoes of a 
tropical climate to undermine and destroy. 
♦ » ♦ 

RAILROAD ACROSS MEXICO TO 
PACIFIC 



The Mexican Central is pushing its line 
across the country to Manzanillo on the Pa- 
cific coast. The road is to be completed 
within two years: One section of 40 miles 
will cost $5,000,000. The route is across 
vast chasms hundreds of feet deep, through 
numerous long tunnels and passes close to 
the active volcano, Colima. The track con- 
struction is the best in Mexico. A large lake 
at Manzanillo will afford a magnificent 
harbor by canal connection to the ocean. 
Indications are that this city will become 
one of the important ports of the world. 



Compressed air has more weight than is 
generally supposed, a cubic foot at 300 lb. 
pressure weighing 1% lb. 



MAMMOTH MILITA RY AIRSHIP 

The Next War Between Great Powers Will Surely Include Conflicts in Mid=Air 

and Beneath the Sea 




Latest Military Balloon==160 Ft. Long 



Germany, ever foremost in military af- 
fairs, has added one of the strangest appear- 
ing air-craft ever constructed to her army 
equipment. The envelope of this new war- 
balloon is 160 ft. long, torpedo-shaped and 
fitted with a rudder underneath and two 
horizontal planes at the sides, forward, 
which serve to preserve equilibrium and give 
it the appearance of a sea monster out of its 
natural element. Within the gas envelope 
are two small balloons into which air is 
pumped by the motor and which are used in- 
stead of framework to hold the gas envelope 
rigid. The basket which is suspended from 
the middle, carries a 90-hp. motor which 



33 



both keeps the small balloons inflated with 
air and drives the screw. The balloon was 
invented by Major von Perseval, who claims 
it can be deflated and packed up quicker 
than any other now in existence. 

In maneuvers before the German Minister 
of War and a large number of military of- 
ficers, it is said the balloon rose to a height 
of 300 yds. and was directed and controlled 
as desired. It was made to describe a figure 
eight eight times in succession and finally 
was landed easily and without a jerk. Those 
who made the ascent were the inventor, two 
chauffeurs to attend the motors and Captain 
von Krogh at the rudder. 



34 ENCYCLOPEDIA 

DRY DOCK "DEWEY" COMPLETES LONG VOYAGE 




A Great Floating Machine Shop 



The dry dock "Dewey" has safely com- 
pleted its long voyage of over 14,000 miles 
from Chesapeake Bay to the Philippine Is- 
lands, and is now anchored in 65 ft. of water 
off Rivera Point at Olongopo naval station. 
Four huge mushroom anchors are used at 
each end of the big dock and the depth of 
water enables all large vessels to reach 
it safely. 

The "Dewey" left Baltimore on the 28th of 
December, 1905 — several months later than 
had been expected — and was 196 days, or 
about six and one-half months, on her way, 
arriving at the Philippines July 11 of the 
present year. The trip was a matter of 
interest to naval officials of all the great 
powers. The dock is equipped with wireless 
apparatus, and by this means her progress 
and safety were reported from time to time. 
It was necessary to widen the Suez canal 
for the passage of the dock. 

In rough water the old method of pouring 
oil on the waves to smooth them was re- 
sorted to, but not with the usual satisfactory 
results. The oil did destroy the crest of the 
waves and reduce the amount of water that 
came aboard, but it also came back on the 
decks of the tugs and made them so slippery 
that its use had to be discontinued. 

The dry dock "Dewey" is an important 
factor in the new naval station now being 
established at Port Olongopo. At present 
all materials for repairs are brought from 
Cavite, but this will not be necessary for 
long. Elaborate coaling facilities are to be 
provided at Port Olongopo and eight big 
buildings, a city block in length and half 



as wide, are to be erected as shops. There 
will also be quarters for officers and men 
and a big recreation ground. The harbor 
will be heavily fortified and the total 
expenditure involved is about $10,000,000. 



GLASGOW QUITS TELEPHONE 
BUSINESS 



The city of Glasgow, where municipal 
ownership of public utilities is general, has 
given up its telephone department and sold 
the plant at a loss of $200,000. 

The London Electrical Review says: 
"Notwithstanding all the clamor made by 
the municipal enthusiasts, all the talk about 
cheap and efficient service, all the ingen- 
iously arranged figures in the accounts and 
statistics, it has been evident for a long 
time past that the Glasgow telephone venture 
has proved an ignominious failure. * * * 
That the Glasgow corporation would sell 
their telephone system if they saw the least 
hope of working it at a profit, or of main- 
taining their ground in the competition, is 
not to be imagined for a moment. The sale 
means that the corporation realize that the 
position is hopeless, and are glad of the op- 
portunity of retiring — without the honors of 



In rebuilding the electric line connecting 
Oakland, Cal., and a suburb, Mateo, it was 
found the two places had been moved 12 ft. 
nearer each other by the earthquake. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



35 






ALL-RAIL ROUTE, LONDON TO NEW YORK 

Submarine Tunnel of 30 Miles to Connect England and France==Another Tun= 
nel of 38 Miles Between Siberia and Alaska 



From New York to London by 12 days' 
travel in a palace car without change is the 
dream of ambitious railway engineers. More- 
over, the dream is likely to come true before 
many years, as the best expert engineering 
minds in the world, after exhaustive study, 
have pronounced the daring conception not 
onl> possible, but involving less serious 
problems in tunnel construction than others 
which are already built and in daily use. 

The idea of a submarine tunnel between 
Siberia and Alaska has recently received 
much attention in Russia, in spite of the 
distractions that government has expe- 
rienced of late. Neither is the plan as new 
as generally supposed, for it was discussed 
nearly 30 years ago, and in 1886 our own 
geological survey reported on the subject to 



The tunnel under the English channel 
would be about 30 miles long. This project 
also dates back 30 years and the company 
which has a concession from the French 
government some years ago bored 5,900 ft. 
of test tunnel and has spent over half a 
million dollars. Little work has been done 
since 1894, during which year the British 
government raised such strenuous objection 
to the work that boring was discontinued. 

The proposed route and distances are: 

Miles. 

London to Paris 230 

Paris to Vienna 625 

Vienna to Warsaw 350 

Warsaw to St. Petersburg 650 

St. Petersburg to Moscow 400 

Moscow to Irkoutsk 3,405 



SIBERIA 

DStTH IN FEET 



ALASKA 




Plan of the Proposed Behring Strait Tunnel 

the United States Senate. Mr. Powell, who Irkoutsk to East Cape (Behring Sts.), 

made the report, stated the undertaking in- to be built 3,800 

volved — at that time — no greater difficulties Across Behring Straits 38 

than those which existed during the con- Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, to Van- 

struction - of our first transcontinental rail- couver, B. C, to be built 2,300 

way, and since then great improvement has Vancouver to Montreal • .2,209 

been made in tunnel work. The original Montreal to New York 310 

idea was to bridge the straits, taking ad- 

vantage of the several islands which are Total 14,317 

directly in the route selected. For years past the English Channel has 

The advance in tunnel work has taken the been to engineers as was an unconquered 

bridge feature out of the conditions, and all nation to Alexander. It offered a field for 

engineers now agree on the tunnel as the brilliant achievement; the lure of Progress 

only way. rose like a sea siren out of its seething 

From East Cape, Siberia, to Prince of waters and beckoned them to dare great 

Wales Cape, Alaska, is 38 miles, passing deeds. And again and again that weird call 

through the islands of Diomede and the has stirred to restiveness the hearts of the 

island of Kruzenstern. The prime mover in English and the French peoples; but ever 

the enterprise is a French engineer, M. de the cautious islanders, feeling themselves 

Lobel, who has studied the subject for years, doubly fortified against foreign invasion 

and who only recently received an inter- because of their insular position, hesitated 

ested hearing at the Russian court. to link themselves by a land route with the 



36 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




SECOND T S!25 

TPeT«C5BuBGCV t , M "- es From k 



FOURTH 

DAY 

11 1 
~s«3 



Fifth 
Day 



KR/VSNOVARSKV #* 

KAINSK. 1«*«^. .*\ 



IRKOUTSK,' 

f Rom Moscow 




From London to New York 



European continent, and in their trepidation 
the cause was lost. But the great achieve- 
ments of the present age, the assurance 
given by the world's best engineers that 
the project is wholly feasible and the amic- 
able relationship now existing between Eng- 
land and Prance have aroused a great en- 
thusiasm for the enterprise on both sides 
of the channel waters, and the English gov- 
ernment is taking measures to authorize its 
execution — the French government, with all 
the sang-froid of that race, has long been 
ready to take it up at a moment's notice. 

As an engineering enterprise, according 
to M. Albert Sartiaux, general manager of 
the Northern Railway of France, the con- 
struction of a channel tunnel presents no 
greater difficulties than did the construc- 
tion of the Simplon tunnel. The channel 
tunnel would be longer, but there would be 
no danger from infiltration and no such 
high temperatures to be dealt with as there 
were in the Simplon. However, the diffi- 
culties of removal of waste would be greater. 
M. Sartiaux discusses the project at length: 

"Soundings and borings made in 1876 and 
1877 gave assurance of the regular succes- 
sion of strata under the bed of the channel, 
as they are visible upon the opposite cliffs, 
that they were without 'fault' at any point, 
and these assurances were confirmed by the 
test boring. The several strata are super- 
imposed in curves of large radius and with- 
out fissures. The thicknesses of the several 
strata are practically constant as they ap- 
pear upon the exposed cliffs. The cenoman- 
ian stratum is clearly marked as suitable for 
tunnel construction. It is about 170 ft. 
thick and about 140 ft. of the upper part is 



impermeable. This depth is sufficient for a 
circular tunnel of from 15 to 20 ft. in 
diameter without danger from the pressure 
above and at a sufficient distance from the 
water bearing strata below. From the in- 
formation afforded by the test galleries 
opened in 1883 at Sangatte and Folkstone it 
appears that the entrance of water would 
not exceed the capacity of a moderate pump- 
ing outfit. In the coal mines of the north 
of France the least inflow of water is found 
in this stratum. 

"It is more difficult to lay out the course 
of the tunnel than to bore it. It must be 
done by feeling the way, keeping constantly 
at a certain distance from the treacherous 
strata above and below. The task is much 
facilitated by the fact that the use of elec- 
tricity would permit the adoption of sharper 
curves and heavier grades than would be 
possible with other motive power. 

"The tunnel should be built in two inde- 
pendent galleries. Even with the favorable 
conditions anticipated it might not be pru- 
dent to construct a single tunnel 27 to 30 ft. 
wide and 18 to 21 ft. high. It is infinitely 
preferable to adopt the plan of two passages 
16 to 18 ft. in diameter each and perhaps 
50 ft. apart, which would thus have no 
effect upon each other, while the tubular 
form would afford the greatest resistance to 
external pressure. However, the two pass- 
ages should communicate every 300 ft., for 
example. 

"For the longitudinal profile there are two 
possibilities: One assuring drainage by the 
double passage which will serve for two 
tracks; the other making the drainage gal- 
lery independent of the railway tunnels. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



37 




by Rail in 12 Days' Time 



To the first plan there is a fatal objection. 
It forces the adoption of a hump profile; 
that is, making the highest point in the tun- 
nel at the middle with the lowest points 
at the ends, whence the water would he 
pumped. These are precisely the points at 
which the level of the tunnel should rise or 
he subject to a material prolongation and 
grades which would reach the maximum 
compatible with the adoption of electric 
traction. The second plan is the one that 
has been considered from the first with all 
the more reason that the drainage gallery 
would serve during the construction of the 
tunnel for the removal of waste material. 
For this purpose this gallery should be made 
about 10 ft. in diameter, and from it would 
lead branches to the tunnel proper, as de- 
scribed further on. 

"Once provided with a suitable passage 
for drainage the tunnel proper would re- 
quire a hump profile only for its middle sec- 
tion of only a few thousand yards in length; 
from this section it would rise upon a gently 
increasing slope to the portals. 

"The work would begin with the drain- 
age passage, having its lowest point in and 
sloping toward a well or pit upon the bank 
from which waste material would be hoisted 
and water pumped. In brief, the course of 
the work would be as follows: The drain- 
age tunnel having been constructed to ap- 
proximately the middle of the channel, the 
boring of the tunnel proper would proceed 
from this point toward the shore. As the 
course of the latter inclines upwardly as it 
progresses, water of infiltration would flow 
back and into the drainage tunnel, and as 
the amount of water would increase with 



the progress of construction, this should be 
taken into consideration in estimating the 
capacity of the drainage tunnel. With a 
fixed section, the capacity can be varied by 
giving a greater inclination toward the 
point of discharge upon the shore. In order 
to follow closely the direction of the strata 
of gray chalk in which the work would be 
carried on, the line of the drainage tunnel 
and of the tunnel proper would diverge from 
the starting point in the middle of the chan- 
nel. 

"In the lack of absolute knowledge as to 
the conformation of the strata, the drainage 
tunnel would serve for test purposes, from 
which the thickness of the strata above and 
below could be ascertained at intervals of 
from 300 to 500 ft., or about once a week at 
the estimated progress of boring. If the re- 
sult of any tests should prove unsatisfactory 
the actual course of the tunnel could be 
varied without departing from the theoreti- 
cal profile, making the tunnel more or less 
sinuous. In this manner the actual charac- 
ter of the stratum through which the tunnel 
is to pass would be reconnoitered, and this 
knowledge would be further increased by 
the transverse passages which would be con- 
structed to intersect the course of the tun- 
nel proper at as many points as might be 
deemed necessary, and from each one of 
which work could be carried on indepen- 
dently, working in each case toward the 
shore. According to the number of these 
branches and consequently the number of 
points from which the work could be car- 
ried on consecutively, the time required for 
the piercing of the entire tunnel is esti- 
mated at from five to eight years. 



38 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




THE BED OF THE ENGLISH CiftHTIHEL. 



"From the traffic standpoint the relations 
between England and the continent are de- 
veloped to a very slight extent. It amounts 
only to about 1,200,000 passengers by all 
routes, although there is upon one hand the 
population of 42 millions of Great Britain 
and upon the other over 100 millions, count- 
ing only France, Italy and Central Europe. 
This smallness of traffic is attributed almost 
wholly to objection to the water passage, 
since between France, with 40 millions of 
inhabitants, and Belgium, Holland and that 
part of Germany served by way of Cologne, 
with hardly 50 millions, the annual traffic 
amounts to over four millions. 

"If the tunnel were ready for operation 
today, it is evident that it would divert 
nearly all passengers from the lines to 
Boulogne and Calais, but it is possible that 
it would have little effect upon the lines 
from Southampton to Saint Malo. If it is 
admitted that it would carry 90 per cent of 
those now traveling by way of Calais and 
Boulogne, 70 per cent of those by way of 
Dieppe, 50 per cent of those by Ostend, 20 
per cent of those by Flessingue and 5 per 
cent of those by other lines, there would be 
at once a patronage of 900,000 passengers 
for the tunnel. But by the time within 
which the tunnel could be completed, this 
figure, with the proper allowance for natural 
increase based upon previous statistics, 
would amount to 1,200,000 passengers. This 
is the minimum. It is not a matter of doubt 
that the number would reach five to six 
millions in a very few years. 



"In the matter of freight, estimates vary 
from 1,500,000 to 5,500,000 tons per year. 
This would include most of the merchandise 
denominated as fast freight, but there would 
probably be little effect upon slow freight. 
It is certain that the traffic would support 
the operation of the tunnel, but it is also 
certain that at least at first the traffic would 
be far from dense, amounting to 20 or 30 
passenger trains and 30 to 40 freight trains 
per day in both directions." 

The military objection so long raised by 
Great Britain would be met by keeping a 
considerable force of men at the tunnel en- 
trance at all times, and it is far from prob- 
able that an enemy could succeed in sending 
troops through, even unexpectedly — as in 
times of profound peace. 

The great advantages of unrestricted in- 
ternational intercourse involved in the ques- 
tion are hardly to be over-emphasized. The 
dread of seasickness has kept traffic at its 
lowest point; but with an electrically lighted 
tunnel and electric cars, the tourist and the 
Londoner and the Parisian will think noth- 
ing of the little ride between the two shores. 
Then, too, the shipment of merchandise now 
entails two additional handlings going in 
either direction which would be rendered 
unnecessary with a tunnel route at an esti- 
mated saving of $1.25 per ton. 

The next link to be forged in the inter- 
national route is a 3,800-mile railway line 
across Siberia's frozen interior. That Rus- 
sia in her time of stress and with her fear 
of political intrigue and her disapproval cf 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



39 



American independence should consider link- 
ing the two continents is, to say the least, 
unexpected. The new railway would he an 
extension of the Trans-Siberian line which 
now terminates at Irkoutsk. The difficulties 
of construction owing to rigorous climate 
and lack of facilities for transporting mate- 
rial would be great, but not prohibitively 
so. This part of the journey, probably the 
least enjoyable, would occupy only a little 
more than three days. 

As stated previously, the old plan of 
bridging Behring strait, using the Diomede 
islands as central points of support, has been 
abandoned entirely with the improved 
methods of tunnel construction. This under- 
sea tunnel would be 38 miles in length, 
pierced through solid rock and with a depth 
of 192 ft. of water above it at one point, 
yet the time required for construction is 
estimated at only four years and the cost 
would be about $250,000,000. It is said the 
excavated material would not exceed that 
taken out for the New York Underground. 
Naturally both Russia and the United States 
would establish military stations at their 
respective entrances to the tunnel. 

From Behring strait to Vancouver, B. C, 
is a distance of 2,300 miles to be covered 



by a steam railway line which will connect 
with our transcontinental routes and make 
them a part of the international line. The 
advantages accruing to the United States 
from such a line are apparent to the Amer- 
ican at a glance. The most northerly rail- 
way in Alaska at present is the Council City 
and Solomon River road which has been 
built over the frozen ground and serves the 
transit of gold-miners, but the new line will 
go far north of this, forming a trail of 
civilization through a now almost inac- 
cessible region. 

It is estimated that at a speed of 50 miles 
an hour, the distance of 14,317 miles be- 
tween New York and London could be cov- 
ered in just 12 days. One of the great 
difficulties is the carrying of supplies for the 
trip into the frozen interiors of Alaska and 
Siberia. Not only would it be necessary to 
provide for the round trip, as it would be 
impossible and prohibitively expensive to 
procure supplies in these regions, but it 
would also be necessary to establish supply 
stations for relief in case of protracted 
blockades from heavy snows. But as the 
lines would be operated independently, both 
the Russian and the American systems 
would share this burden. 




THE FINEST MILK WAGON IN THE WORLD IS IN PARIS. IT IS A 24-HP. MOTOR 
WAGON, PAINTED PURE WHITE; IS VENTILATED AND COOLED, AND ATTRACTS 
ATTENTION WHEREVER IT GOES, 



40 ENCYCLOPEDIA 

A SKYSCRAPER COURT HOUSE AIR PROPELLERS FOR BOATS 



First Public Building to Adopt Modern Office 
Construction 



The new court house now under construc- 
tion in Chicago marks the change from the 
heavy* super-ornate and extravagantly ex- 
pensive type of public buildings which has 
characterized county and state buildings for 
years past. Hereafter structures of this 
kind are likely to be erected more in ac- 
cordance with the best office buildings, and 
greater attention paid to light, ventilation, 
convenience and utility and less to produc- 
ing simply an external exhibit of massive- 
ness or ornament. 

The Chicago court house will be steel 
frame construction, 12 stories high, faced 



Not Considered Practicable as Motive Power 



Discussing the subject of propelling a 
boat by means of an air propeller, a writer 
in the London Shipping World says: "Mr. 
Holzapfel's analogy to a sailing ship being 
driven along by the wind does not help 
matters, as the conditions are quite differ- 
ent. I did not understand that he wished 
to make an artificial wind by means of fans 
and set up sails to catch the pressure from 
such a wind, but that he wished to set up 
fans in the air to act in the same way as a 
propeller acts in water, viz., to get a for- 
ward thrust by projecting a stream of air 
astern. I still believe that the forward 
thrust obtainable in this way would be of 




New Type of Public Building 



with granite. It occupies half a block in the 
heart of the city, being 157 ft. by 374 ft. 
The concrete pillar foundations were certainly 
great wonders of mechanical construction. 
They extend down 120 ft. to bedrock. 
The building will be 205 ft. high and 
cost $5,000,000. The columns form part of 
the walls, windows being placed between 
but not behind them. 

Not only will there be a great gain in 
space but the light will be much superior 
to the old style public building. 
♦ » ♦ 

Wireless telegraphy is now ten years old. 
Marconi's first patent was taken out in Eng- 
land, June 2, 1896. 



small amount compared with the power that 
would be necessary. We have an exact* 
analogy in the case of an airship, and here 
the propellers have to be of very large di- 
mensions to do the work required, and for 
such a ship the resistance is very small, 
compared with that of a body in water. Mr. 
Holzapfel could readily put his ideas to the 
test by putting a table fan on to a model 
ship and observing the result. I do not 
think he can mean to put a propeller fan 
on board to drive air forward against a 
transverse sail or plane. This would be 
something like getting on a rowboat and 
pushing against one of the thwarts and 
expecting the boat to go along." 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



41 



CABLEWAY USED IN SHIP CONSTRUCTION 



For the transport of material on to the 
slip an English shipbuilding firm is using 
overhead cableways, which it claims are far 
superior to cantilever cranes in point of 
utility and also more economical. 



says The Shipping World, London, "the trol- 
ley can move fore and aft at a speed of 60 
ft. per minute and transverse travel 25 ft. 
per minute." All the movements and the 
lifting of the weight are controlled from the 




The Operators Ride in the Little Cabs 



The installation consists of two struc- 
tures hanging outwards at the head and foot 
of the slip, between which are strung cable- 
ways. A trolley capable of lifting 3 tons is 
hung on each cable. "With this weight," 



car on the trolley and when the 3-ton limit 
is exceeded all three trolleys can be used to 
lift the same weight. The apparatus is abso- 
lutely steady. It was used in the construc- 
tion of the battleship "Lord Nelson." 



42 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



SOWING WHEAT WITH GASOLINE 
TRACTION ENGINE 



One of the bonanza farmers in the great 
Saskatchewan valley in Western Canada 
used a traction engine for plowing and disk- 
ing, and afterwards employed the same 
power in planting. The Farm Implement 
News says: "The farm comprises several 
hundred acres on which wheat is raised. 
The traction engine was used in sowing the 
wheat, using two 12-ft. drills, followed by 
a 24-ft. steel harrow." 



FREE CLOTHES BAGS FOR LADY 
TRAVELERS 



Here is an idea which will be instantly 
appreciated by the ladies who travel. The 
general passenger agent of the Northern 
Pacific railroad has invented a clothes bag 
made of tough paper, into which the trav- 
eler can put hats and such garments as are 
not in use on the car, or upon retiring for 
the night. When the articles are in the 
bag the top is closed with puckering strings, 
which keep out the dust. The bag can then 




Sowing Wheat in Saskatchewan with Gasoline Traction Engine 



The gasoline engine furnishes the power 
for the complete process of plowing, disk- 
ing, planting, harrowing, reaping, threshing 
and hauling to market. During the winter 
it furnishes the power for running a mill 
where feed is ground. 

♦ « ♦ 

AUTOS TO CARRY BOSTON MAIL 



Almost every day some new application 
of the motor car decreases the number of 
horses in use in our cities. Plans are 
nearly completed for a motor car service in 
Boston to run between the main postoflice 
and the 25 substations in the city and near- 
by suburbs. Some of these stations are 8 
miles from the postoflice. 



be hung up out of the way and is strong 
enough to sustain the weight of several 
articles. At the end of the journey it folds 
up and can be put in the satchel for use an- 
other time. Now why didn't somebody think 
of this before? 

♦ « ♦ 

GREAT INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY 



From one manufacturing town in Indiana 
comes the report that 5,000 men and boys 
could be employed in that place alone. All 
the factories are behind on their orders and 
cannot keep up with the demand on account 
of inability to secure enough workmen. The 
skilled mechanic was never in greater 
demand than now. 






ENCYCLOPEDIA 



43 



THERMOMETER 20 FEET HIGH 



The largest thermometer in the world, 20 
ft. high, with figures big enough to be read 
a block away, has been made in Rochester, 
N. Y., for a Boston druggist. The glass tube 
is 16 ft. long, and ten tubes were made and 
broken before a perfect one was secured. 
The instrument is very accurate and regis- 
ters from 35° below zero to 115° above, says 
the Optical Journal. 

» « ♦ 

CASTING HOUSES OF CONCRETE 



Considerable interest has been aroused by 
the interviews with Thomas A. Edison, who 
has a plan to cast houses in moulds in one 
solid piece of concrete. In his enthusiasm 
the newspaper correspondent goes so far as 
to cast the house with fireplaces, mantles, 
bath tubs, and even cement pipes for water 
and gas. All this might be possible of ac- 
complishment, but as improbable as it is 
unnecessary. 

The idea is little more than an elabora- 
tion of things which are already well known 
in cement construction. Foundations for 
walls, smoke stacks, heavy machinery, 
bridge piers, etc., cast in one solid piece of 
concrete, are being made every day. The 
steam railroads are making culverts, retain- 
ing walls for track elevation and even large 
arch bridges in one piece, or very large 
pieces; much larger than the material re- 
quired for an 8 or 10-room house. 

Large buildings, including churches, thea- 
ters and office buildings, are now being 
erected of cement reinforced with iron rods 
or strips. In these cases the moulds are 
not made for the entire building but for 
a few feet at a time. Edison places the 
cost of a set of moulds for a house at 
$25,000, which can be used over and over 
again. Four days is allowed for the con- 
crete pouring and setting. 

In process and principle the casting of a 
concrete house is little different from that 
of making the 200-bbl. jugs for cisterns 
now in general use. The use of moulds 
for making the foundations, outside 
walls and partitions would seem to offer 
advantages .for quick and cheap construc- 
tion as the mixing and elevating of the 
concrete would be done by power and the 
tamping by comparatively unskilled labor. 
Moulds for making blocks, fence posts, water 
troughs, curbing, cisterns, anu many other 
articles are already on the market. We may 
therefore expect the forms for a cottage in 
the near future. 




44 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



RAILROADS IN JAPAN 



CLEARING LAND OF STUMPS 



Japan has completed 5,000 miles of steam 
railway. The event was the occasion of a 
great celebration held in Nagoya, in which 
prominent government officials and railway 
managers took part and inspiring patriot- 
ism was displayed. 



ELECTRICAL AERIAL FERRY 
MARSEILLES, FRANCE 



AT 



To clear stump land costs as high as $200 
an acre. Where dynamite is used the cost 
for explosive is from 30 to 50 cents per 
stump. Stump pullers will work on soft 
woods. On the Pacific coast, where the 
stumps are of mammoth size, a donkey en- 
gine, blocks and steel cable are used. A 
method much used years ago was to fasten 
a big log 20 ft. long to the stump and hitch 
two teams of horses to the end. 



An electrically operated 
aerial ferry nas been com- 
pleted across the Dieux 
Port, at Marseilles, France, 
and is now in operation as 
a ferry for passengers, 
freight and vehicles. It is 
sufficiently high to permit 
the free passage of all 
shipping. The car is sup- 
ported by steel cables sus- 
pended from a trolley run- 
ning on rails on the 
cantilever. 

The bridge is 805 ft. 
long and 164 ft. above the 
water. Height to top of 
towers, 284 ft. A winding 
stairway in each tower 
leads to observation 
houses, and foot passen- 
gers can cross the 12-ft. 
walk from one side to the 
other. Passengers and 
sheep, says the Western Electrician, pay 1 
cent fare each; horses, mules, cows and 
vehicles, 10 cents each; automobiles, 50 
cents. 




Ferry Car Crossing River 

The fastest vessel of her class in the 
United States navy is the battleship "Geor- 
gia." Her record run was made at a speed 
of 19.26 knots per hour. 







Electric Aerial Ferry at Marseilles 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



45 




The fact that the danger of Are is less 
today than ever before is due chiefly to the 
requirements of the insurance underwriters. 
As the rates for fire insurance are based on 
the degree of risk from destruction by fire 
of the property insured, the fire insurance 
underwriters who make these rates must 
know what constitutes a safe risk. They 
must know the conditions that tend to make 
a building fireproof and must be able to 
determine the chances of Are in a building 
which is not fireproof. They must be able 
to judge correctly the degree of protection 
furnished by sprinkler systems and other 
extinguishing apparatus and must determine 
*\e reliability of all fire-alarm systems. 

So great did the demand among insur- 
ance interests become for definite and accu- 
rate knowledge of these points that there 
was established a bureau of investigation 
known as the Fire Insurance Underwriters' 
Laboratories where experts study, test, in- 
vestigate and report the degree of efficiency 
and safety of various materials, devices and 
methods which are claimed to make build- 
ings immune against fire. 

The building in which these tests are 
performed is a perfect model of fireproof 
construction. The floors are of tile and 
cement and the doors are made of sheet 
copper filled with noncombustible material. 
All the window, door and skylight frames, 
sash, etc., are made of sheet metal and all 
glass is wired. Even the office appliances 
are fireproof; the desks, filing cases, and 
shelves being made of sheet metal. It was 
deemed necessary to take all these precau- 
tions, as many of the experiments are of a 
very dangerous nature. 

A careful record is kept of all fires that 
occur and whenever possible the cause of 
the fire is noted and filed away in a classi- 
fied list. As the records extend over a 
period of many years, the risk arising from 
any given cause can be accurately deter- 
mined. 

It appears from these observations that 
electricity, which so effectually aids in 



preventing general conflagrations, is also a 
great source of danger. "When two line wires 
become crossed, one of which is a very high 
voltage circuit and the other low voltage, 
the current travels along the low voltage 
wire and, entering a building, encounters 
some low voltage apparatus such as a 
switch, motor, fuse, or other device and 
forms an arc, which is very likely to start a 
fire. The accompanying illustration shows 
one of the many burnouts which have been 




Results of Cross Between Trolley and 
Telephone Wires 

caused by crossed wires. In this instance 
a telephone line a mile distant became 
crossed with a trolley wire and the tele- 
phone line, not being provided with fuses, 
brought the trolley current into the building 
where it fused the wires and started the fire 
as shown, the loss being in this case $3,300. 
Short circuits and open circuits in inte- 
rior wiring are also often responsible for 
loss of property by fire. Unsoldered connec- 
tions, insufficient insulation, and improper 



46 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



location of wires are among some of the 
causes, but besides these there is the danger 
of rats gnawing the insulation off the wires, 
chemicals or moisture rotting the insulation, 
and electrolysis of the insulation, which 
causes sulphur fumes. These fumes attack 
the copper wires which ■ in time are so cor- 
roded that an arc is formed. 

The locations of short circuits are often 
very hard to ascertain. In one instance a 
wall had been covered with tapestry which 
had running through it metallic threads. 
The tapestry was carried underneath the 
plate of a switch, the current of which was 
conducted over the metallic threads to a 
gilded picture moulding near the ceiling and 
over this to a point where a nail had been 
driven through the picture moulding and 
made contact with grounded material of 
some kind, possibly gas or water pipes. 
The passage of the current melted the metal- 
lic threads in the tapestry, but was fortu- 
nately discovered before much damage was 
done. 

In wiring a building, particular attention 
should be given to see that no wires come 
in contact with any of the pipe lines. 

The result of such contacts are shown in 
the illustration, where the gas pipe in each 
case was punctured by an arc, and the escap- 
ing gas ignited. In one case the contact 
with a pipe proved to be an advantage. An 




Characteristic Types of Short Circuits and Grounds 

electrical wire having set fire to the wood- 
work, also made contact with a water pipe 
and burned a hole through it, releasing a 



deluge of water, which effectually stopped 
the progress of the flame. 

Many fires are caused by incandescent 
lamps, although it would seem that the 
amount of heat generated would be insuffi- 
cient to cause a fire in anything but the 
most combustible material. This is true 
when the heat is allowed to escape, but 
when it is confined by being wrapped in 
cloth or other insulating material the heat, 
which can no longer radiate, will accumu- 
late until the kindling point is reached. For 
this reason incandescent lamps should never 
be placed where they may come in contact 
with combustible material. 

There are many other sources of danger 
due to electricity such as sparks from mo- 
tors, electric flat-irons left with the current 
turned on, overheated -rheostats, etc.; but 
the greatest number of fires are caused by 
crossed lines without protective apparatus,' 
short circuits, open circuits, and grounds. 

One might think the dangers arising from 
spontaneous combustion were very insignifi- 
cant, but grain and coal handlers have 
learned from costly experience that these 
materials, when piled in large quantities, 
are sure to become heated and eventually 
burst into flame unless some means is pro- 
vided for cooling them. When coal which 
is piled more than 15 ft. deep becomes damp, 
the lime in the coal is acteu on by the 
moisture and the heat accumulates to such 
an extent that the coal often becomes red 
hot; and in many grain elevators expensive 
machinery is installed to keep the grain in 
motion to prevent it from heating. 

There are many other substances liable to 
spontaneous combustion, one of which is 
oily waste, which if stored away in sufficient 
quantities is almost certain to ignite. For 
this reason all oily waste, rags and refuse 
should be kept in metal boxes. 

All of the conditions that tend to produce 
fires are dangerous, but the greatest danger 
of all — the one which causes the greatest 
number of fires, and the one which the un- 
derwriters find the most difficult to over- 
come is carelessness. Fire causes which 
come under this classification are no longer 
filed in the classified list, as they were 
found to be simply a repetition of a few 
varieties such as "Filled the gasoline stove 
while lighted," "Upset the lamp," "Children 
played with matches," etc., these records 
giving no information of new conditions to 
be guarded against, and simply filling up 
the files. 

"When all the various causes of fire are 
taken into account, it is evident that there 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



47 



are many things to be considered in pro- 
Tiding suitable means for eliminating the 
conflagration hazard, but the means of pro- 
tection and prevention which are now avail- 
able cover all possible causes of fire and, as 



will be seen later, the thoroughness and 
exactness with which these devices are in- 
vestigated and tested is unequaled in any 
other branch of applied mechanics. 



J* 



J* 




ARMORED AUTOS FOR GERMAN ARMY 



A ponderous armored automobile was re- 
cently tested before the Emperor of Ger- 
many as a preliminary to its adoption by 
the German army. The machine is pro- 
tected by armor y± in. thick and in actual 
warfare would be protected by an armored 



hood, while the wheels would be guarded by 
circular plates of steel armor. There are 
two loopholes with shutters for quick-firing 
rifles in front. ' Leather pouches fitted in- 
side contain a small battery of quick-firing 
pistols for defense at close quarters. 



5^* t^* t&^ 

NEW YORK SUBWAY TROUBLES 



When the subway in New York city was 
planned it was expected that the rapid mo- 
tion of the frequent trains would cause a 
continuous flow of air through the tunnel. 
For this reason the overhead openings to 
the air, which were difficult and expensive 
to build, were placed at considerable dis- 
tances. 

When the line was first opened the small 
particles of steel from the grinding of the 
wheels and rails caused great annoyance; a 
trouble which had never been noticed in sur- 
face or elevated roads. This has somewhat 
abated, but the question of ventilation and 
cooling is causing the engineers trouble. 



On warm, and especially on "muggy" days, 
the air in the subway, after having been 
breathed by a million people in 24 hours, be- 
comes almost unendurable, and many pas- 
sengers have on this account abandoned the 
quick subway service and returned to the 
elevated lines, which take twice as long to 
make the trip. 

At the Times' station it is now proposed 
to install a $45,000 ammonia refrigerating 
plant, with the ammonia exhaust carried far 
up above the buildings; but while the re- 
frigeration part is reasonably practical, the 
result of a bursted pipe, which would fill the 
tunnel with deadly ammonia fumes, is a 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



chance engineers hesitate to take. Another 
plan is proposed of sinking wells and evap- 
orating the cool water by means of fans. 
There is evidently an inviting field for some 
ingenious inventor to come to the rescue 
with a safe and thoroughly practical remedy. 



GERMAN POSTOFFICE IDENTIFY 
CATION CARDS 



For 12 cents the traveler in Germany can 
now secure a card of identification which 
will he accepted at any postoffice. In addi- 
tion to a general description of the owner 
of the card, a small photograph is attached. 
A small cancelling stamp covers a part of 
the photograph, the remainder appearing on 
the card. When the holder of a card changes 
his appearance he must get a new card. 

UNIQUE AUTOMOBILE BRIDGE IN 
DESERT 



The daily mail and passenger automobile 
line between Roswell and Torrence, New 
Mexico, is over sandy deserts, and crosses 
only one stream in 101 miles. J. W. Stock- 
ai*d, manager of the company, has invented 
and built a unique automobile bridge to 
span the Macho. Like other mountain 
streams, it changes from barely a spot of 
water to a roaring torrent in a few min- 
utes when the deluge from a sudden storm 
miles away comes down. 

The bridge is constructed without floor or 
supports in the bed of the stream. The 
first quality protects it absolutely from all 



travel except that of automobiles and keeps 
off the herds of cattle that live on the 
plains; and also insures it against washout. 
Thus it solves two important questions for 




It Has No Floor 

automobilists in the Southwest. The bridge 
is 64 ft. long, and, as there are no speed ordi- 
nances in the desert, the cowboy chauffeurs 
hit it at full speed, giving the tenderfoot 
passenger a shock that is hair-raising *n the 
extreme. 




The Home-Made Bridge 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



49 



SUBMARINE SAILS 300 MILES AT SEA 



Record Breaking Trip 'of the New American Torpedo Boat "Lake" 



[The following account is by F. W. Baker, one 
of the newspaper men who made the trip. — 
Editor.] 

The new submarine torpedo boat "Lake," 
the largest ever constructed in this country, 
recently completed an open sea voyage from 
Newport News, Va., to Bridgeport, Conn., at 
an average speed of over seven knots. This 
performance is considered remarkable owing 
to the fact that the "Lake" was unconvoyed, 
a feat never before performed in this 
country. 

After receiving her finishing touches at 
the yard of her builders, the Newport News 
Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, the 
"Lake" began her long voyage on the after- 



is surmounted by a wooden superstructure 
and deck, which gives the boat an appear- 
ance not unlike that of the original "Moni- 
tor," but on a smaller scale. The propelling 
power on the surface is supplied by gaso- 
line engines turning twin screws; while 
submerged the screws are driven by electric 
motors from storage batteries of great ca- 
pacity. Within the boat are comfortable 
quarters for the crew of ten persons, includ- 
ing a galley in which the meals are cooked 
by means of electricity. Sufficient air may 
be stored in the air tanks to allow the boat 
to be submerged several days without caus- 
ing distress to the crew. 




The "Lake" Running on the Surface 



noon of Monday, June 25. When Cape Henry 
was reached the engines were stopped long 
enough to enable a communication to be 
sent to her owners. The engines were then 
started again and never stopped until when 
off Barnegat, it being necessary to slow 
down to avoid a large school of whales, who 
evidently mistook the submarine for one of 
their number. 

At about 2 o'clock p. m. on Wednesday, 
the 27th, the "Lake" arrived safely at Sandy 
Hook and anchored inside. Later on the 
voyage was continued up New York harbor 
and through Hell Gate under her own 
power, into Long Island Sound to Bridge- 
port, at which place she arrived without 
a mishap of any description. 

This submarine marvel consists of a steel 
capsule of cigar-shaped form, within which 
is placed all the propelling machinery, air 
crmpressors, crew's quarters, etc., and which 



She is equipped with three torpedo tubes, 
which can be reloaded and fired several 
times without coming to the surface, the 
commanding officer in the meanwhile keep- 
ing his eye on his prey by means of a sight- 
ing instrument which projects above the 
surface of the water, and even if discovered, 
offers a target too small to be struck except 
by a chance shot. 

The boat is equipped with hydroplanes, or 
side rudders, which, when set at an angle 
by means of pneumatic power, cause the 
boat to descend on an even keel while 
going ahead, thus actually possessing a 
feature which Jules Verne's imagination 
gave to the famous "Nautilus." 
♦ » ♦ ■ 

The British "Dreadnaught" will be able to 
throw twice as much metal at a single dis- 
charge of her guns as any other battleship 
now in commission. 



50 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



LOCOMOTIVE LAYS SUBMARINE 
CABLE 



Cable steamers for laying ocean cable lines 
are well known, but recently a locomotive 
was pressed into a similar service when the 
big telephone cable was carried across the 
Connecticut river at Middl^ton. The cable 
is 1,640 ft. long and weighs 10,060 lb., and 
when the time came to draw it across the 
river no tug was to be found within 45 
miles. Some greater power than a horse 
windlass was necessary, so a locomotive was 
hired to do the work. The railroad crosses 
on a bridge a few rods from the point where 
the cable was to cross. A 7-strand steel rope 
was- taken across the river and passed 
through a series of snatch blocks and fast- 
ened to the drawbar of the engine. The 
other end of the rope was attached to the 
cable which was wound on a reel on the 
shore. A hand brake prevented the reel 
from unwinding too rapidly. When all was 
ready the engine crossed on the bridge, 
while the cable wa: dragged across in the 
opposite direction. A small scow supported 
the end of the cable to prevent its catch- 
ing on the bottom of the river. The cross- 
ing was made in 16 minutes. 

Some years ago, when the river was 
frozen, says the American Telephone Jour- 




nal, a cable was laid near the same spot 
by drawing it across on the ice and then 
chopping a slot in the .ice and dropping 
the cable through. 

♦ » ♦ 

PARLOR LOBSTER TRAPS 



The time-honored lobster pot with an "en- 
trance" at each end is to go. Since lobsters 
became scarce the fisherman cannot afford 
to lose a single one. With the old style 
trap many of the lobsters escaped, but with 
the new parlor trap entrance this is impos- 
sible. The Fishing Gazette says: "The par- 
lor trap does not fish any better, but it 
holds all lobsters that enter. In construc- 
tion it does not differ materially from the 
usual make except there is an open part in 
one-half of the side in which there is a 
net and hoop similar to the end nets or 
'heads.' One end is closed entirely with 
netting- so no lobster enters from one end. 
The other end is similar to the old trap. 
Eut there is a third net in the center of 
the trap through which the lobster in en- 
tering either at the side or on the end 
makes his exit into the .'parlor,' where he 
is safely impounded. On the parlor end is 
the door for taking out the lobsters from 
the trap." 

♦— ♦— * 

TIDE AND WAVE MOTORS 



A reader requests a summary of the meth- 
ods employed in the various wave and tide 
motors which have been made. The sub- 
ject affords sufficient data to fill a large 
book, as more than 200 patents have already 
been granted in this country alone on such 
machines. To utilize the limitless power 
which daily goes to waste is one of the most 
fascinating as well as difficult of accom- 
plishments. Some day some bright inventor 
may solve the problem and furnish light, 
heat and power for all without the use of a 
pound of coal. 

♦ • ♦ 

WIRELESS ON BAVARIAN TRAINS 



Halr=Covered Trunk Used by Ex=Sea Captain as Mall 

Box on Rural Route. This Trunk Has Been 

to All Parts of the World 



Locomotives on the Bavarian railway sys- 
tem are to be equipped with wireless tele- 
graph apparatus, which will permit of tak- 
ing and sending messages while the train is 
in motion. A signal bell will notify the en- 
gineer of the coming message and a few 
seconds later the signs of the message will 
appear on a paper band. Messages have 
been transmitted, and received in this way 
over distances up to 200 miles. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



51 



MOUNTAINS OF IRON ORE AT LAKE PORTS CONTAIN 

MILLIONS OF TONS 



There is a marked similarity in appear- 
ance between the huge piles of iron ore at 
a great lake port and a mountain range. 
The photograph on this page, made at the 
port of Conneaut, 0., substantiates this state- 
ment for those who have never visited the 
immense, receiving ports on Lake Erie. 
These mountains of iron are known as 



unloading machine are the largest. Those 
dumped beneath the main body of the struc- 
ture seldom exceed 25,000 tons in weight. 
Some one has figured that the 33,500,000 
tons of ore shipped last season would make 
a dike of ore 10 ft. high and 10 ft. wide 
that would extend from Cleveland to New 
York. And, as to mountains, this quantity 




'Stock Piles" Awaiting Shipment to the Furnaces 



"stock piles" and represent those portions of 
the total ore movement from the upper 
lakes which are not for direct shipment 
after their arrival at the lower lakes. The 
ore which is not unloaded onto stock piles 
goes from the vessel directly into cars. 

There are 150 distinct kinds of iron ore. 
Whether it goes onto the stock piles at Lake 
Erie harbors or directly into cars may de- 
pend upon the kind of ore that the furnaces 
are most in need of at any particular time. 
The capacity of the railroads is not equal to 
the task of moving forward immediately all 
that is received in a day. At least this is 
true at most of the ports. 

The weight of a single iron ore pile is 
often 50,000 tons and in height one pile may 
reach 100 ft. The piles at the rear of the 



would easily make one 300 ft. high, 900 ft. 
wide and a quarter of a mile long. 

Of this vast amount of iron ore, there 
usually remains on the docks of the lower 
lakes at the beginning of navigation some 
three or four million tons that have not 
gone forward to the furnaces. During the 
winter months when lake navigation is at 
an end, the railroads continue their hauling 
of ore from Lake Erie to the furnaces to 
such an extent as the weather will permit. 
Ore will often freeze, however, and it be- 
comes necessary to blast it loose from the 
mountains. This is a dangerous occupation 
and many an ore shoveler has lost his life 
in recent years beneath some heavy portion 
of the mountain that has loosened and 
fallen upon him. 



52 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



The ore movement of the present year at 
the beginning of the season was roughly 
estimated at from 35,000,000 lo 38,000,000 
tons. It may not reach the latter figure but 
will not likely fall far short of 36,000,000 
tons. This will exceed all years in history. 
In the month of June alone 5,000,000 tons 
were shipped from Lake Superior. Ashta- 
bula harbor — the greatest ore-receiving port 
in the world — received nearly a million tons 
during the same month; Cleveland is a close 
second to Ashtabula, and Conneaut, the Car- 
negie port, is not far behind Cleveland. In 
one recent week 3,800 cars of this heavy 
product went forward from Ashtabula 
harbor. This, too, breaks all records. 
♦ » ♦ • 

An effort is being made to create a market 
for North American coal in Brazil. The de- 
mand for coal there is confined to coast ship- 
ping and the railroads, and nearly all used 
is English, selling at $16 gold per ton. 



AUTO TRAVELS 606 MILES IN ONE 
DAY 



In the last generation the town of Orsa, 
Sweden, has sold $5,750,000 worth of trees. 
By careful replanting a like income is guar- 
anteed for every 30 "or 40 ye*ars. Railways, 
telephones and many other luxuries, are free. 



A remarkable trip was recently made in 
which an automobile was driven from De- 
troit to Chicago and return, a distance of 
606 miles, the same day. The party left De- 
troit at midnight and. arrived in Chicago at 
11 a. m. After a rest of one hour the return 
trip began, reaching Detroit at 10:50 p. m. 
The average speed for the entire trip was 
30 miles an hour. No repairs were made 
during the day with the exception of 
replacing one tire. 

DON'T POINT FINGER AT WIRES 



Pointing a finger at a fallen wire may be 
dangerous. An Oregon young man did so 
and received a shock which killed him. The 
wire had fallen the day previous, and the 
end had been picked up and wound around 
a fence post. The victim pointed his index 
finger at the wire, and, although 8 in. from 
it, the current leaped across the gap and 
passed through his body and electrocuted 
him. 



QUAKE VICTIMS LIVE IN STREET CARS 




AFTER THE BIG FIRE HUNDREDS OF REFUGEES FOUND SHELTER IN STREET 
CARS WHICH STOOD IN LONG LINES ON TRACKS IN THE UNBURNED DISTRICT. 
HERE THE PEOPLE LIVED AND SLEPT, THE CARS AFFORDING WELCOME SHEL- 
TER. THE ABOVE VIEW WAS TAKEN ON SUTTER STREET. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



53 



Latest and 

Best Cypes 
of foreign 
JMotor Boats 




French Boat -- Runs on Land or W ater 



France, the home of innumerable marvels 
in the world of science and invention, has 
just produced an amphibious automobile that 
is one of the oddities of the century. The 
"Canot Voiture" which has lately been un- 
dergoing trials near Paris is a combination 
motor car and motorboat and can be used 
for land locomotion when not dancing over 
the waves; moreover, it can be altered for 
either service at short notice. 

This curious combination craft and car 
is built on the lines of an automobile 
yacht, but conveniently placed are springs 
and supports for four wheels upon which it 
is adjusted for land service. The two rear 
wheels are driving wheels and may be used 
on water or on land as required. The tests 
of the new invention thus far made have 



proven very successful and this novelty in 
the auto held has developed very satisfac- 
tory speed. 

One of the most interesting of the newer 
British motor boats is the "Svip." This lit- 
tle flyer is 35 ft. in length, 5 ft. 9 in. beam 
and 1 ft. 6 in. draft. The engines are 24-hp. 
4-cylinder motors driving twin screws, the 
ignition being the standard low tension 
magneto. The exhaust is carried through 
a silencer fitted in a neat funnel which is 
fixed to a baffle plate immediately over the 
engines. 

The boat is intended for fast cruising and 
has comfortable seating accommodations for 
12 to 16 people and can be adapted to stand 
a very fair sea. On the first occasion on 
which the engines were started up the boat 




Cruising Boat "Svip"«21 Miles an Hour 



54 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Shallow Draft Steel Boat, "Spider" 



attained a speed of 20% miles per hour and 
on the official trial the flyer ran six times 
over the measured mile, with and against 
the tide at an average speed of considerably 
more than 21 miles per hour. A feature of 
the boat is the sliding hood which can he 
instantly collapsed and rolled up at the 
forward end when desired. 

The Colonial office at London has recently 
had constructed for the use of the British 
officials in Southern Nigeria, a motor launch 
that is unique in many respects. The vessel 
is built of galvanized steel and is 56 ft. in 
length, 9 ft. beam and 12 in. draft when car- 
rying a load of 4 tons. To facilitate steering 
on the light draft, three single-plate bal- 
anced rudders are provided. There are two 
propellers on one shaft, working in a tunnel. 

The engine is a 4-cylinder Thornycroft 
marine motor. The normal number of revo- 
lutions is 800 and at this speed the engine 
develops 40 hp. on paraffin. The capacity 
of the fuel tanks is 80 gal. The hull of the 
"Spider" is open, with a short deck over the 
fore peak and protected from the tropical 
sun by a light wood awning ' on which is 
placed the steering wheel forward. The 
hull is subdivided by six watertight bulk- 
heads, floor boards being fitted along the 
bottom of the boat, forming a deck. The 
engines of the "Spider" may be operated 
either on petrol or paraffin, but the latter 
will probably be used more extensively, 
since it is almost the only fuel obtainable 
in the part of the world where the boat will 
be in service. 

» » ♦ 



ENGLISH COAL CARS 



The standard freight cars, or "goods" and 
"mineral wagons" as they are called on En- 
glish steam roads, are quite small and run 
on four wheels. The illustration shows a 
coal car weighing 5 tons with a capacity 




Holds Only Six Tons 

load of only 6 tons. These cars are strangely 
in contrast with the big freight cars here 
which carry ten times the load. The small 
car is explained by the sharp curves in the 
track necessary to get into the collieries and 
points of delivery. 

♦ « ♦ — 

PILES MADE OF CONCRETE 



A cube of irridium 1 
•would weigh 1,390 lb. 



ft. on each side 



A new concrete pile is made by spreading 
a layer of concrete on a wire fabric, having 
longitudinal rods attached at intervals. The 
fabric is then rolled up in a machine and 
the pile laid aside to harden. It also con- 
tains any desired number of vertical rods. 
One of the rods is a hollow tube and the 
pile is sunk by the water jet process. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



55 




Copyright i9L,ti, t\ A, Pal 



PAUL JONES* MAN=OF=WAR 



The "Bonhomme Richard," Paul Jones' fa- 
mous battleship, which won the victory 
in the engagement of Sept. 23, 1779, 
with the British 44-gun frigate "Sera- 
pis," was formerly the "Duras," an old East 
Indiaman. When Jones refitted the vessel 
for warfare he also rechristened her. The 
"Bonhomme Richard" was built in 1766 and 
was 13 years old when she went into com- 
mission. Her dimensions were: Length, 152 
ft.; length of keel for tonnage, 128 ft.; ex- 
treme breadth, 40 ft; depth of hold, 19 ft.; 
burthen (French measurement), 998 tons. 
She had a battery of 42 guns, throwing 258 
lb. of metal in a single broadside. 

The battle waged furiously for four hours 



after Capt. Jones had lashed his vessel to 
the enemy. Then for the first time a Brit- 
ish man-of-war struck her colors to the 
Stars and Stripes. Soon after the surrender 
the "Bonhomme Richard" began to fill, and 
Jones transferred all his men to the cap- 
tured frigate and cut his own boat loose as 
she sank. The picture is a reproduction 
from a recently discovered drawing made 
by Paul Jones' own hand, which shows him 
to have been a good artist as well as a 
fearless fighter. The modern greyhounds 
of the sea give an impression of power and 
size, but utterly fail to compare in the grace, 
beauty and animation which stands out in 
every line of the "Bonhomme Richard." 



UNSINKABLE STEAMBOATS 



A Kiel shipping company is having five 
unsinkable steamboats built. In a test one 
of these vessels was laden with the equiva- 
lent of 200 passengers, and assuming that 
the ship had been injured in a collision, the 
engine-room division was pumped full of 
water, and a hole to admit water freely was 
made to the exterior. When the ship sank 
until full it had still a foot of free board 
above the surface. 



STEAMSHIP LINE BETWEEN RUS= 
SIA AND AMERICA 



A direct steamship line has been estab- 
lished between Libau, Russia, and New 
York, with a view to increasing commerce 
between the two countries, and also afford- 
ing a direct passage to the United States to 
Russian emigrants. The vessels will sail 
under the Russian flag and accommodate 
from 1,000 to 1,200 emigrants, besides first 
and second class passengers. 



56 ENCYCLOPEDIA 

NOVEL LOCOMOTIVES FOR AFRICA SANE LUMBERING 



The illustrations show two new types of 
locomotives which were recently built at 
the Kitson works, Leeds, England, for ship- 
ment to South Africa. 



As one prominent lumberman recently put 
it, the lumbering industry today is a species 
of insanity manifested by a greedy desire to 
cut up all the good timber, large and small, 




Fig. l==Twelve Drivers= = Unusual construction 



In Fig. 1 is seen an unusual construction, 
the superstructure of boiler, cab and water 
tank being carried on two long steel gir- 
ders. Each section of driving gear is really 
an independent locomotive with its own 
valve motion, brake gear and sand supply, 
while the entire weight is carried on the 
12 drivers. Steam is carried to each pair 
of cylinders independently, with ball and 
socket joints. The engine weighs 72 tons, 
and will take curves of short radius. 



in sight as fast as possible, when one 
might more easily provide himself a per- 
manent business, conserve the forests to 
future generations and leave something of 
value to his family. 

Suppose one secured 500,000,000 ft. of 
timber, picked out his mill site and built a 
mill capable of cutting 20,000,000 ft. a year, 
suggests a correspondent of the Lumber 
Review. He could keep cutting for 25 
years, and at the end of that time, having 




Fig. 2==Helper Engine for Pretoria Line 



The engine, Fig. 2, was built at the Vul- 
can Foundry, Newton-Ie-Willows, as a helper 
for heavy passenger express trains on the 
Pretoria line. 

An automobile was converted into a sheep- 
shearing machine at Portland, Mich. The 
engine of the car transmitted, by means of a 
belt, power to the wheel operating the power 
shears, and the work was rapidly and satis- 
factorily executed. 



left everything 10 in. and under, he could 
make a new start and cut the whole tract 
over again, the second cutting requiring 15 
years, making 40 years in all. This perma- 
nent business would benefit others, also. A 
permanent mill town with fireproof saw 
mill, planing mill, dry kilns, etc., would fol- 
low, naturally, and the town would likely 
become a farming center, also, as consider- 
able farming land would be secured with a 
timber tract so extensive. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



57 



A BALLOON INCLINE RAILWAY 



ENGLISH DEVICE TO UNLOAD COAL 



A German engineer residing in a moun- 
tain district proposes to build a balloon in- 
cline railway for transporting tourists up a 
mountain-side too steep for a cable incline 
road. 

The balloon is fastened by a steel cable 
to a slide running along a single steel rail 
which is anchored to the mountain-side. 
The balloon is 35 ft. above the rail and 
carries a car or basket holding 10 persons. 
The ascent is made by the lifting power 
of the balloon, and a load of water ballast 
taken on at the summit causes it to de- 
scend. When the bottom is reached the 
water is let out and the conveyance is ready 
for another ascent. 

♦ » ♦ 

RELEASING HOOK FOR SHIP'S BOAT 



It is said by sailors that there is no more 
important a part of a ship's equipment than 
the releasing hook which forms a part of 
the gear by which the small boats are low- 
ered. The ship may voyage for months, sail- 
ing thousands of miles, with no occasion to 
use a small boat. Then an emergency oc- 
curs in which every second counts, to say 
nothing of the danger of launching while 
a heavy sea is running which may smash 
the boat to splinters. From time to time 
improvements have been made in releasing 




Hook For Releasing Small Boats 

hooks. The latest improvement, which is 
being adopted by large steamer companies 
and navies, is shown in the cut. A quick 
jerk on the small rope effects the release in 
an instant. 



A good imitation walnut stain is made of 
burnt umber and yellow ochre, in propor- 
tions to give the desired shade. 



A device for unloading coal, which was 
recently patented in England, consists of two 
large steel rings mounted on rollers and 
provided with booms, which hold the car 
firmly in place while being dumped. 

These rings, or tipplers, are so made that 
an engine may pass right through, and the 




How the Car is Dumped 

entire train may then be unloaded, one car 
at a time. The device not only saves time 
but also cleans out every ounce of coal, as 
the car makes a complete revolution when 
being unloaded. 

The tipplers are so designed that the cen- 
ter of gravity of the revolving apparatus, 
including the weight of the loaded car, is 
very near the center of the rings. The ad- 
vantage of this is that little power is re- 
quired to operate the tippler, a 5-hp. motor 
emptying as much as 100 tons of coal per 
hour. 

♦ » ♦ 

EGGS CANNED IN KANSAS 



Cracked or chipped eggs are not allowed 
to spoil in Kansas, but are preserved by 
canning. During the process of "candling," 
or sorting with regard to size, freshness 
and cleanliness, many broken eggs are 
found. These would keep in cold weather, 
but in summertime soon spoil. 

The canning process consists in breaking 
the eggs into carefully cleaned tin cans, 
then placing the cans in freezers, where the 
eggs are frozen in a solid mass, after which 
they are placed in cold storage. The cans 
are of 10-lb. capacity, each holding about 
12 doz. eggs. Some cans contain only 
whites, others yolks only, and others both 
whites and yolks. Bakeries and ice cream 
factories are large consumers of canned 
eggs. 



58 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



CEMENT SHINGLES CHEAPER THAN 
WOOD 



COMBINED TEA AND LUNCHEON 
BASKET 



The use of cement for replacing articles 
made of wood is increasing every day. Ce- 
ment has already replaced wood, to a great 
extent, in building sidewalks, bridges, fence- 
posts, steps, building-walls, foundations and 
many other purposes and is commanding 
considerable attention at present in the 
form of shingles. In the earlier instances 
of concrete roofing the material was used 
in the same manner as in laying a floor, 
but the great strength required in a floor is 
not necessary in a roof. 

The cement shingles are only a little 
heavier than slate and not much more 
expensive than the best wood shingles, 
and, as they are practically indestruc- 
tible, they are cheaper in the end 
than any other material, including tile 
and slate. These shingles are made in a 
great variety of designs and are reinforced 




First Cement Shingle House 

with metal skeletons, which hold the cement 
together, and terminate in loops at the edges 
for nailing to the roof. They are practi- 
cally everlasting, as moisture, the cause of 
universal decay, is the chemical agent in 
the process of hardening cement, and when 
properly mixed and tempered the cement 
shingles become harder and more durable 
the more they are exposed to the weather. 



French bakers in large fortified towns are 
required to have a certain stock on hand at 
all times in case of war. All French bakers 
must deposit a certain sum of money with 
the municipal authorities as a surety of 
good conduct, and must sell their bread at a 
price fixed by law. 



A handy tea and luncheon basket de- 
signed for the use of motorists provides for 
all the wants of four persons. It contains 




Provisions for Four Persons 

provision-boxes, cups, saucers, plates, cut- 
lery, etc., and a kettle with a burner under- 
neath, all arranged compactly. The basket 
has silver-plated fittings, giving it a hand- 
some appearance, and when the lid is shut 
down, a waterproof cover slips over all to 
keep out the dust. 

♦ » ♦ — 

SPRING WHEEL FOR AUTOS 



Inventors are steadily at work to perfect 
a spring wheel for motor cars which will 
do away with the expense and annoyance 
of keeping up pneumatic tires, while pro- 
viding the same ease in riding. The wheel 
illustrated is made up of five steel spokes 




Steel Spokes and Helical Springs 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



59 



extending from a steel hub to sockets in the 
rim which permit considerable movement; 
also ten helical springs. The tire is solid 
rubber. 



PORTABLE MACHINE FOR FELLING 
TREES 



A portable sawing machine, simple in de- 
sign and carrying its own motive power, 
thus making it entirely independent, is a 
recent invention destined to be of great value 
to lumber men. 



fill! 




Motor=Driven Sawing Machine 

A tubular framework supported in any 
suitable manner carries two band wheels — 
one driven by a gasoline or other suitable 
motor, the other running loose — over which 
passes an endless saw Guiding pulleys 
bring the running and cutting edges of the 
saw together so they move in the same kerf. 
Of the two sets of rollers employed at each 
end, one keeps the upper and lower runs of 
the saw in close facial contact and the other 
causes the saw courses to approach the first 
set of rollers in a gradual curve, and also 
holds the saw in close frictional contact with 
the driving pulleys, says the American In- 
ventor. The simplicity of construction and 
the portability of the device constitute two 
great advantages. 



SHIPPING LIVE FISH WITHOUT 
TANKS 



Fish can live out of water for a long 
while, provided their gills are kept wet. 
Taking advantage of this fact, a method of 
shipping them without tanks has been de- 
vised. A wooden box is filled with water to 
a depth of % in., and the fish are placed in 
the box, which is then hermetically closed. 
Oxygen is introduced into the box through 
a tube reaching to the bottom. As the oxy- 
gen before entering the box passes through 



several water bottles it is thoroughly satu- 
rated with water vapor. In this way the 
gills are kept wet and the fish preserved 
alive and in excellent condition for from 
three to four days. The result is practically 
the same as when the fish draw oxygen 
from the water that washes their gills, ex- 
changing, as in our breathing system, 
carbonic acid for it. 



LARGEST STONE CRUSHER IN THE 
WORLD 



The rapid increase in the use of cement 
for all construction purposes has created an 
unprecedented demand for crushed stone. 
What is believed to be the largest crusher 




This Crusher Weighs 110 Tons 

ever built was recently completed. This ma- 
chine weighs 110 tons and turns out 5-in. 
cubes which are afterward run through 
smaller crushers. It is of the gyratory type, 
the rock being fed through three hoppers, 
the openings of which are 24 in. wide and 
66 in. long. The crusher is 25 ft. high, runs 
at a speed of 350 revolutions per minute, re- 
quires 175 hp. and turns out 700 tons per 
hour. 



A wonderful new sight is being tested on 
a 6-in. gun on the British vessel "Africa." 
The sight indicates and allows for decreased 
muzzle velocity, owing to erosion, the rate at 
which an object is traveling, and, also, the 
difference between a shot fired through the 
air when the barometer is high and when it 
is low. 



60 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



AUTO HELPS FIREMEN 



In an eastern village recently, when an 
alarm of fire was sounded, the one available 
team was hitched to the Are engine, leaving 
only two volunteers to look after the hook 



good ones are arranged in bundles of twenty- 
six or twenty-eight, then packed in boxes 
and sent to the cold storage warehouse. 
They are then called "ice bulbs." For may- 
flower and lilac bulbs the temperature main- 
tained in the warehouse is 25° F.; for lilies 




Automobile Propelling a Fire Engine 



and ladder truck. A passing automobile 
was pressed into service and drew the truck 
to the Are. 

♦ « » 

COLD STORAGE FOR FLOWERS 



To retard the blossoming period of flower- 
ing plants in order to secure flowers at any 
desired time of the year the German gar- 
dener places the bulbs 
in cold storage. Lilies, 
hyacinths, mayflowers, 
gladiolas, roses and 
lilacs — for all of which 
there is a large demand 
in other countries — are' 
the plants usually sub- 
jected to this unique 
process. For the may- 
flower, especially, 
Spain, South of France, 
Italy, Russia, England, 
South America and 
Asia afford fine mar- 
kets and immense 
quantities of mayfiower 
plants are shipped to 
these countries. 

The bulbs are pre- 
pared for storage by 
stripping them of the 
leaves, then cleaning 
and sorting them. The 



and gladiolas 32° F.; for roses 30° to 25° F. 
The relative, humidity is high — up to eighty 
or ninety per cent. 

The "ice bulbs" will produce flowers at 
any period, in any season within 20 to 28 
days, without forcing. They are planted in 
sand, earth or muck and kept in the dark 
for the first ten days to prevent too many 
leaves on the plants. The next ten to eigh- 
teen days they are kept in the light and at 




Cases Filled With Mayflower Bulbs in Cold Storage Warehouse 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 

NOTABLE FOREIGN LOCOMOTIVES==NO. 7 



61 




SPAIN— SIX COUPLED FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE ON THE SOUTHERN RAILWAY OF 
SPAIN. THE SPANISH RAILWAYS ARE 5 FT. 6 IN. GAUGE, WHICH GIVES THE EN- 
GINES THE APPEARANCE OF BEING VERY WIDE AS COMPARED WITH THEIR LENGTH. 
THEY ARE BUILT SHORT ON ACCOUNT OF THE NUMEROUS SHARP CURVES ON THE 
LINE. 



the end of that time are fully developed. 
The temperature should range from 50° to 
59° F. The leaves and blossoms of the 
plants are said to he of stronger and fresher 
appearance than when the plant is treated 
in the usual manner, and the blossoming 
period can be retarded as much as six 
months. Ice bulbs sell in Germany for 
about one cent each. Our illustration shows 
a view in a cold storage warehouse contain- 
ing about six million mayflower bulbs. 



of the watch. The kite follows the ship 
under any condition of weather, and when 
fixed for a certain depth will sound the 



KITES FOR SOUNDING SHALLOW 
WATER 



A water-kite fastened to a wire cable and 
cast over the side of a ship is the latest in 
sounding devices. The kite, which consists 
of two parts connected by a coupling, is sunk 
by the oblique pressure, just as an atmos- 
pheric kite is raised by the wind, says 
Public Opinion, and may be sunk to a ver- 
tical depth regulated by the length of the 
cable. A scale and register on the side of 
the winch tell the depth to which the kite 
has descended. When the kite strikes bot- 
tom, the coupling is released and the less- 
ened tension of the cable sets in motion an 
alarm bell on deck, to attract the attention 




Kite, Towed Along Under Water, Striking Bottom 

alarm as soon as the ship passes into shal- 
lower water. The kite is not reliable for 
depths greater than 30 fathoms. 



When moving pictures are taken of a 
buggy moving at such a speed that the spokes 
revolve in unison with the interrupting shut- 
ter of the camera, then the buggy in the 
pictures appears to move while the wheels 
stand still. 



62 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



CHIMNEYS TO RESIST EARTH= 
QUAKE 



When chimneys of brick or cement blocks 
toppled and fell during the San Francisco 
earthquake, the breaks always occurred in 
the mortar joining them, and not in the 
bricks or blocks themselves. One of our 
readers, John W. Haynes, of San Jose, Cal., 
suggests a method of building quakeproof 
chimneys. He says: 

"I believe chimneys would be earthquake- 
proof if the cement blocks were made with 
a %-in. hole in each corner in which to 
cement iron pins, a little less than twice the 
thickness of a block in length, as the chim- 
ney is run up. By using two of the blocks 
diagonally opposite each other in setting the 
pins, continuous rods would be built up with 
the chimney. The method would be cheap 
and easy to use." 

X=RAYS AND A DIAMOND THIEF 



Our illustration, from the Keystone, shows 
an X-ray skiagraph of precious stones. Real 
diamonds cast the light shadows, Nos. 13, 
14, 15 and 16; while the imitation, No. 19, 
casts a dark shadow. It is also noticeable 
that the black diamond, No. 20, a dull and 
lusterless substance, is as transparent to the 
X-rays as the brilliants, while the diamond 
bortz, No. 6, is much less transparent than 
either, though more so than the imitation, 
No. 19. The garnets, Nos. 11 and 12, cast 
darker shadows than the imitation garnet, 
No. 2; and the turquoise and pearl, Nos. 4 
and 5, cast much darker shadows than the 
opal, No. 3; sapphire, No. 7; chrysolite, No. 
8; emerald, No. 9, and ruby, No. 10. The 
rough tourmaline, No. 17, casts a darker 
shadow than the polished tourmaline, 
No. 18. 

♦ » ♦ 

Galvanized iron roofs should not be 
painted until exposed to the rain and 
weather for several months. The paint will 
not then scale off. 



The young woman from 
Texas who, while examin- 
ing diamonds at a jewel- 
er's in Omaha, Neb., put a 
$300 gem in her mouth and 
when charged with the act 
swallowed it, has unwit- 
tingly aided science. Hith- 
erto it has been an accept- 
ed fact that diamonds are 
transparent to the Roent- 
gen rays, says the Key- 
stone, while imitations are 
opaque and appear in an 
X-ray photograph with 
sharp outlines. The X-rays 
were used, however, to 
locate the diamond swal- 
lowed by the girl, the 
jewel casting a faint 
shadow, which was verified 
by placing three first-water 
diamonds in scattered positions below or 
back of the thigh of a person experimented 
on and photographing them, and the spots 
were the same as that cast by the swallowed 
jewel. 

The young thief agreed to have the dia- 
mond cut out provided she were spared the 
consequences of her act, but as she was 
under 21 years of age and a native of Texas 
she could not legally become a party to the 
agreement. On trial she claimed she put 
the gem in her mouth to test it and did not 
know what became of it. However, she was 
found guilty and sentenced to five years in 
the penitentiary. 



; 


^|^^H9H 


■HHH 


■■■ " ■;■ ■■"; 




*m* 


. 1 


2 


• 

'6 


4 


5 


' HBP i 

6 




V-:^' 







^ffW 


49 : 


7 


& 


9 


1.0 


II 


12 

* 


13 


.14 " 


15 


.16 


17 


18 






19. 


20 







X=Ray Skiagraph of Precious Stones 

PROFIT IN CEMENT BLOCKS 



A cement block man figures out the cost 
as follows, with a machine turning out 150 
blocks per day: 

Five barrels of cement, twenty barrels of 
sand and three common laborers constitute 
the labor and material for a day's work. 

5 bbls. of cement, at $1.50 per bbl $ 7.50 

20 bbls. of sand, at $1.00 per yd 2.50 

3 laborers at $1.50 per day each 4.50 

Total cost $14.50 

This makes the cost of a block about 3.6 
cents; the block retails for 35 cents. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



63 



REINFORCED CONCRETE TUNNELS 



A new system of tunnel 
construction contemplates 
the use of reinforced con- 
crete in the walls of the 
shell in place of cast iron 
or steel. The system is 
for use with the Hastings, 
tunnel shield which was 
used so successfully in the 
construction of 4,139 ft. of 
24-ft. 9-in. bore on the 
main conduit of the Chi- 
cago intercepting sewer 
system. 

The foundation of the 
reinforced tunnel lining is 
to consist of a series of 
metal reinforced segment 
blocks molded by a new 
method without pressure 
or tamping, placed by a 
rotary segment hoist con- 
nected with the shield 
and forced into position 
hy the hydraulic jacks 
that shove the shield for- 
ward. Waterproof pads 
will be used in the joints 
and seams of each ring 
of segments and the inner surfaces of the 
blocks will be coated with waterproof mate- 
rial, after which a reinforcement of circular 
steel beams, a beam to each ring, will be 
placed. These circular beams will be 
braced by connecting longitudinal bars at- 
tached at equal distances around the circum- 
ferential beams, says the Iron Age. Over 
this foundation and at a suitable distance 
from it will be laid a heavy wire netting 
and over the netting will be applied a coat- 
ing of cement concrete, completely imbed- 
ding the metal. The interior surface will 
be troweled smooth. This form of construc- 
tion is said to be durable and of moderate 
first cost compared with other systems of 
building. 




NIAGARA FOR BEAUTY AND 
POWER 



The Burton bill, which has for its object 
the preservation of the scenic grandeur of 
Niagara Falls to the people, was passed by 
the House of Representatives on June 4. 
By the terms of the bill the United States 
reserves the right to take unlimited quanti- 
ties of water from the Great Lakes for sani- 



New Concrete Tunnel System 

tary and drainage purposes; the President 
is authorized to open negotiations with 
Great Britain in regard to a line of action 
in preserving the river, and the amount of 
water which may be taken from the river 
for the production of electrical energy is 
left to the discretion of the Secretary of 
War. 

It is estimated that, allowing for losses by 
friction, etc., the total hydraulic energy 
represented by the river in its 237 feet of 
fall between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario is 
3,500,000 horsepower. At the present time, 
on the two sides of the river, a total of 900,- 
000 horsepower is being developed. The 
river discharges 230,000 cubic feet of water 
per second from the one lake to the other; 
by limiting the number of cubic feet which 
may be used for power purposes the gov- 
ernment will be able to save the falls from 
our over-eager commercialism. 

Probably the most striking estimate of 
Niagara's power from a commercial stand- 
point is that made by H. W. Buck, electrical 
engineer of the Niagara Falls Power Com- 
pany. In an article in the Outlook he says: 

"The total hydraulic energy of the falls, 
if all were developed, would represent about 
3,500,000 horsepower. To generate one 



64 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



horsepower continuously for a year by a 
steam engine requires about 13 tons of coal, 
so that to generate the amount of power 
represented by the falls would require about 
50,000,000 tons of coal per year. This would 
cost not less than $50 per horsepower-year. 
As against this, Niagara power can be gen- 
erated and sold in large quantities for $15 
per horsepower-year, or $35 less than is pos- 
sible from the use of coal and the steam 
engine. 

"From the above it will be seen that if all 



the hydraulic energy of t'^e falls were uti- 
lized for power purposes there would result 
to the country an annual saving of $122,500,- 
000 and an additional saving in the con- 
sumption of 50,000,000 tons of coal. These 
figures illustrate what it actually costs the 
people of this continent to maintain Niagara 
Falls as a spectacle." 

From the number of petitions and the 
general agitation of the subject it seems 
the American people are still willing to pay 
the price. 



BOAT RACING ON LAND 



For inland organizations whose members 
would enjoy boat racing were they only 
located conveniently, a new rowing shell for 




Develops the Rowing Muscles 

developing the rowing muscles has been in- 
vented. The crew pull on straps fastened to 
a rail on each side and push against foot 
braces, thus giving the movable seats a re- 
ciprocating motion, says the Scientific 
American. The device is used for land boat 
races. 



PLAN MUNICIPAL ICE HOUSE 



The question of municipal ice plants is 
being agitated in Detroit, Mich. The plan 
is to erect a number of ice houses and to 
cut the ice around Belle Isle, owned by the 
city. Members of the park department who 
have little to do in the winter will have 
charge of the cutting and storing. The ice 
will be sold to the consumer at the actual 
cost of maintenance of the municipal plant, 
the householders to be supplied first. 
» • ♦ 

Contracts for two 16,000-ton battleships, 
"South Carolina" and "Michigan," have been 
awarded, one at $3,540,000 and the other at 
$3,585,000. 



SAILING DAYS OF OCEAN PAS= 
SENGER STEAMERS 



Very few sailings are made by transat- 
lantic liners on Fridays, and none on Sun- 
days and Mondays, for all there are so many 
lines now operating. There is good reason 
for it, however. Superstition prevents many 
people from starting on a voyage on Friday, 
and most people like to start on Saturday. 
The entire suspension of business, even to 
different railroad train schedules, on Sun- 
day, puts that day out of the question and 
because banks are closed on Sunday, making 
it impossible to get letters of credit, there 
are no Monday sailings. 

♦ » ♦ 

FREIGHT CARS FOR AUTOS 



The English railroads have had so much 
traffic in motor cars that one of them, the 
London & Northwestern, has built special 




Car for Shipping Autos 

freight cars for the exclusive shipment of 
automobiles. These cars are 27 ft. long, 8 ft. 
wide and about 9 ft. high. There are double 
folding doors at each end of the car as well 
as 5-ft. sliding doors at the middle 



LATEST AMERICAN SIEGE GUN 



Shoots Shell and Shrapnel 




Carriage Ready for Action 



The new siege gun fires a 4.7 in., 60-lb. 
projectile which with the power and case 
makes the cartridge weigh 73.75 lb.; the 
initial velocity is 1,700 ft. per second. Tne 
rifle weighs 1,730 lb. and is carried on three 
tubes, the middle one being a hydraulic 
cylinder to' check the recoil, while the other 
two contain helical springs to take up the 
counter recoil. Gun and carriage complete 
weigh 7,170 lb. High explosive shell and 
shrapnel are used. 

The Journal of the American Artillery 
Association says: "The ease and rapidity 
with which the carriage can be unlimbered 
and made ready for firing, or the reverse, is 
especially notable. Other prominent features 
of this material are the great range and 



65 



power of the gun, great weight of projectile 
when caliber is considered, rapidity of fire 
and ease of service resulting from quickly 
loaded ammunition, improved sights and 
traversing arrangements, and stability of the 
carriage." 

The firing mechanism is of the continu- 
ous-pull type in which the firing pin is 
cocked and fired by a single pull of the lan- 
yard or stroke of the firing lever. The 
mechanism is simple and consists of few 
parts, which may be assembled or dis- 
mounted without aid of tools. It is rapid, 
powerful, easily operated, and is provided 
with safety devices which positively . pre- 
vent a discharge of the piece before the 
breech is safely closed. 



66 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



LARGEST SIPHON IN THE WORLD 



Causes a Small River to Actually Run Uphill 



The great irrigating 
canal across the valleys 
of Sosa and Ribabona 
in Cpain has just been 
completed. The system 
includes a monster 
siphon 3,500 ft. long 
which brings the water 
up over a range of high 
hills. This was done 
to save the very much 
greater expense of tun- 
neling. Many engineers 
said the plan could not 
be made to work, but 
it proved a success 
when the sluice gates 
were recently opened 
by the king. 

The canal now fur- 
nishes water and makes 
valuable 247,000 acres 
of land which for cen- 
turies has been barren 
for lack of water. The canal and ditches 





The Tubes Are Built of Concrete 

offer nothing unusual, but the great siphon 
is one of the most interesting of engineer- 
ing feats in many years. 

The siphon consists of two great tubes 
each 3,500 ft. long and 12 ft. 5 in. in 
diameter, with a capacity of 7,700 gallons 
of water per second. The tubes are built 
of concrete made around wooden forms, 
and bound at frequent intervals with steel 
hoops. The inside is lined with steel plate, 
and the tubes when done were covered with 
earth for protection and strength. 

Two thousand men were engaged for sev- 
eral months in the construction work, and 
the result is that today the water of a fair 
sized river is actually running up hill. 

♦ « ♦ 

BURNS OIL; BREAKS MARINE 
RECORD 



Monster Siphon, 35,000 Feet Long 



From Singapore via the Cape of Good 
Hope to Rotterdam, a distance of 11,791 
miles, without the loss of a single stroke cf 
her engines, is the record-breaking voyage 
of the steamer "Goldmouth." This is believed 
to be the longest trip ever made by a 
steamer without stopping her engines for 
even an instant. The ship's fuel supply 
was oil and on arrival the supply was suffi- 
cient for 20 days more. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



67 



m 



irni 



TO GAS LEAK 



erriflc Blast "Wrecks House, Dam- 
ages. Several Others and Causes 
Panic .in District 



olice of 


the T\ 


ost 


Chicago 


a\ 




i today 


dei-la 


ed 


then 


So 


ves 


satis 


t the tc 


rrillc 


OX| 


loaior 


M 


hit 


h dot 


cd. the 


toitse 


at 


152. 


Nc 


rtt 


Hal 


cct and 


d,.ma. 


■ed 


.seve 


ral 


ol 


hers 


sed by a 


spark 


of 


ll'O 30 


.tir 


g off a 1 


ntity of 


llltiin 


ins 


ting 


Kas 




hich 


Hod rrom 


a nja 


n 


nto a 


ro 


om 




ho explo 


slon o 


aus 


od a 


pa 


aic 


and 


1 pofSODS 


wore 


ill) 


areil. 


F 


re 


broke 


nediately 


and 


mei 


acod 


many 


home 



MILLIONS WASTED 

Half the Water Pumped. 

and 10 Per Cent of Gas « 

Produced Lost 

through Leakage 

of Mains and 

Pipes 



WATER FAMINE BRINGS 
DANGER FOR CINCINNATI 



IWfy*terlous Xtr^ak In Maln.1 Hetml 

Conflagration Peril — lahaljitn 

Swelter "Wltu Thermometer n 

00 and DuMiucKa Is Stoxined. 



- [SPECIAL TO THE RECOnP-HKn.M.D.] 

CINCINNATI, Juno !).— The entire city 
of Cincinnati to-night is without water, A 
mysterious break' in the mains has wrecked 
the entire, service, and the pltui.iv.n Is al- 
most a* desperate as. that in Han Francisco 



VERY FEW PUBLIC WATER WORKS WHICH HAVE BEEN MORE THAN ONE YEAR IN 
OPERATION DELIVER AT POINTS OF KNOWN USE OR WASTE 50 PER CENT OF THE 
WATER WHICH ENTERS THEIR MAINS. IN MY JUDGMENT THE AVERAGE LEAKAGE IS 
FROM 60 TO 66 2-3 PER CENT. IN NEGLECTED SYSTEMS IT IS OFTEN MUCH MORE.— 

JAMES C. BAYLES, M. E. 



Taking the cities of this country as a 
whole, fully half of all the water pumped 
by the city water works, and from 10 to 15 
per cent of all the gas manufactured, is ab- 
solutely wasted. In the case of the gas, the 
wastage is not only a financial loss, but is 
dangerous to health and life. The leakage 
is caused by bad joints and electrolytic holes 
,in the mains and by defective plumbing in 
buildings. Enough water seeps into the 
ground, or finds escape into sewers every 
day to supply the actual necessities of the 
people twice over. A million dollars' worth 
of coal is burned every year in this country 
pumping this waste water. 

The water leakage from the mains is 
probably greatest, and may go on for 
months and years without being discovered. 
The water mains of Boston and suburbs, 
for instance, have 750,000 joints and 150,000 
service connections, every one of which may 
at any moment commence to leak; in fact, 
from 50,000 to 100,000 gal. daily have been 
known to flow from a single leak for months 
without giving any surface indications. 
Eight leaks were found which totaled 648,- 
000 gal. a day. The total leakage from 
mains and service pipes in the Boston sys- 
tem alone is from 15,000,000 gal. to 22,500,- 
000 gal. every day. Other cities are even 
worse. 

New York is threatened with a water 
famine, and yet could the leaks be stopped, 
the supply now being furnished would suf- 
fice for a city three times as large. 

In Chicago the waste is astounding. Here 
there is no shortage in the source as Lake 
Michigan is of course inexhaustible, but 
over 400,000,000 gal. are being pumped 
every day which means more than 200 gal. 
per day for every man, woman and child 
in the city. Even with the most extrava- 



gant use, it is impossible to utilize over 100 
gal. per day per person. The other 200,000,- 
000 gal. goes to waste. As it costs the city 
nearly $400,000 a year for coal for pumping 
stations, here is a waste of $200,000 in fuel 
per annum, and the figures are increasing 
all the time. 

Lest one may infer that the water waste 
is characteristic of American extravagance, 
it is well to note that the largest English 
cities show an average leakage of 60 per 
cent. 

Gas shows a smaller percentage of loss 
and yet the waste is appalling. In London 
almost two billion feet of gas escape every 
year, which at the average price in this 
country would amount to nearly $2,000,000. 
This leakage averages 596,187 cu. ft. per 
mile of mains per year. In this country 
the loss is about the same and ranges from 
10 to 15 per cent, and there are instances 
where it has reached as high as 60 per cent. 
As a rule the small mains show the largest 
proportional loss. Steel pipes screwed to- 
gether are apt to strip the threads when 
contraction occurs. One engineer says: 
"After the contraction I have seen a pipe 
taken apart by hand which required four 
men with wrenches at each joint to put to- 
gether. I have tested lines as perfectly 
tight at 6 p. m., and at 7 a. m. the following 
day they were leaking heavily due to 
shrinkage of the pipe in the trench during 
the night." As a matter of fact, leaks may 
and often occur while the trench is being 
filled, in a pipe line which tested all right 
when the order to fill was given. 

Eighty per cent of leaks in mains are 
due to joints opening under expansion and 
contraction. Other common causes are 
from unequal settlement, oxidation and 
electrolysis, and from jar and vibration. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Bad Case of Electrolysis in Water Main 



There are 1,000,000 lead caulked joints in 
the gas mains of Chicago. 

Pipes underground seem imbued with 
life; they are never inactive, something is 
doing every moment. Mr. Bayles says: 
'Expansion and contraction are constant. 
Pipes in the ground are never at rest, hut 
lengthen and shorten with each variation of 
temperature. This movement is slight, 
rarely exceeding two inches in a thousand 
feet through the range of a year, but it is 
irresistible. If not accommodated, it will 
accommodate itself. The forces acting 
upon a pipe are so much stronger than any 
iron ever made that the rigid pipe is inevit- 
ably broken." 

From this, the reader will better under- 
stand the frequent explosions which attend 
underground work in cities. The gas enters 
the chamber where men are at work, and 
an accidental spark, as when a pick strikes 
a stone, explodes it, generally with fatal 



few inches into the bell-shaped end of the 
next. The joint was then made tight by 
pouring melted lead to fill the bell and ham- 
mering the lead into the joint on the same 
principle as a dentist hammers a filling 
into a tooth. It will readily be seen how 
slight a disturbance of either pipe section 
will loosen the joint and cause a leak. 

The amount of leakage depends upon the 
pressure in a pipe. A round hole y±-in. in 
diameter will leak 12,960 gal. in 24 hours 
with 45 lb. pressure; the same hole will 
pass 14,431 gal. with 60 lb.; and 18,600 gal. 
under 90 lb. pressure. 

Pipe lines for all purposes are now being 
laid with a patent pipe made in 6-ft. lengths 
and joined iron to iron without the use of 
lead or other packing. The pipe is cast of 
softer iron with a much higher tensile 
strength, the ends being machined and held 
together with heavy bolts passing through 
lugs cast in the pipe. The illustration 




Bell and Spigot Joint 

results. Manhole covers in streets that are 
shot into the air owe their activity to gas 
escaped underground. 

Cast-iron pipes have a longer life than 
steel. There was recently taken from the 
River Seine in Paris a cast-iron pipe line 
which was laid in 1802. It was in good 
condition, and the maker's name and date 
cast on each section was easily read. In 
Rheims cast-iron pipes laid in 1748 were 
taken up in 1840 in good condition. 

The method of joining cast-iron pipes has 
been the bell and spigot joint in which the 
straight end of one section was extended a 




New Anti Leak Joint 

shows how this is done. The connection 
being a perfect metal joint is a better con- 
ductor of electricity, and danger from 
electrolysis is consequently lessened. 
♦ » ♦ 

HOW TO SMOOTH A GUN BARREL 



Cut a dove-tailed slot in one side of a 
stout hardwood stick which is somewhat 
longer than the barrel of the gun and of a 
size to slide into it easily. Insert a half 
round file in the slot and then scrape or 
grind the barrel as much as necessary. To 
keep up the proper pressure, put strips of 
thin cardboard between the file and the 
stick. To get a perfectly smooth finish 
after filing, says the American Blacksmith, 
use emery flour. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



69 



MACHINE CAUSES DEAD TO BREATHE 

f 

Remarkable Apparatus of Hungarian Surgeon for Reviving Drowned or 

Asphyxiated Persons 



Dr. R. Eisenmenger, 
an eminent surgeon of 
Szarvos, Hungary, has 
invented a machine for 
producing artificial res- 
piration. So simple and 
effective is its opera- 
tion, the wonder is it 
was not thought of 
long ago. Periods of 
alternate compression 
of air and vacuum 
cause patients who 
have ceased to breathe 
to do so with all the 
natural motions of a 
live person. 

In the case of per- 
sons who are taken un- 
conscious from the wa- 
ter or suffering from 
asphyxiation as a re- 
sult of inhaling deadly 
gases, or who have 
ceased breathing from 
electric shock — in all 
these cases life is fre- 
quently saved after one 
to four hours of artifi- 
cial respiration. 

While the process of 
working the arms up 
and down to fill the 
lungs with air, and dis- 
charge it again, is by 
no means difficult, yet 
comparatively few peo- 
ple know how to do it 
successfully. There is a 
knack in the movement 
which comes only from 
actual practice, and the 
regularity of the move- 
ments has largely to 
do with results. The 
average inexperienced 
operator works too rap- 
idly and irregularly, 
due to excitement. Ef- 
forts should not be re- 
laxed for three or four 




The Breathing Machine Operating on a Child==Below Are Shown a Series of 
Shells Ranging from Adult Size Down to Infant Size 




hours, as the 



life 
all 



spark may still be there, although to 
appearances the patient is dead. 

The apparatus devised by the surgeon con 



sists of a metal shell, in shape not unlike 
that of a turtle shell. These shells are made 
in sizes ranging from use for infants un to 
adults. To the under side of the she* is 



70 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



fastened a soft, flexible rubber bag, which 
is in contact with the skin when the ap- 
paratus is strapped tightly over the chest 
and abdomen. From the bag through the 
top of the shell a flexible tube leads to a 
bellows placed on the floor and operated 
with one foot. 

As the bellows is pressed down the air it 
contains is forced through the tube into the 
rubber bag under the shell, which expands 
against the patient, pressing the abdomen, 
which in turn presses the lungs and forces 
out through the nose or mouth the con- 
tents of the lungs, either water, gas or air. 
When the foot pressure in the bellows is 
removed springs cause the bellows to open, 
drawing back the air which fills the rub- 
ber bag, and, on account of the shell fitting 
tightly to the body, creates a vacuum, which 
draws the abdomen up into the shell, caus- 
ing the lungs to fill with air in the usual 
way. 

The action of the bellows and the corre- 
sponding inflation and deflation of the lungs 
can be maintained by great precision and 
with little exertion by the operator, who can 
increase or decrease the rate of respiration, 
as desired. This method of artificial com- 
pression and expansion of the abdomen per- 
fectly imitates the natural movement of the 
involuntary muscles which produce normal 
breathing, only in this instance the propel- 
ling power comes from without instead of 
within the body. The invention is reported 
to give surprisingly good results and al- 
ready to have saved several lives. 



SCARLESS SURGERY 



When skin is cut on the bias the wound 
can be closed up without leaving a scar. 
Surgeons have discovered the fact to the 
profit of mankind. The edges of the skin 
are adjusted by means of a magnifying 



glass, after the operation, and are held i& 
place by means of a dressing of glass and 
wool. 

♦ • ♦ 

REAR LIGHT TELL=TALE 



English users of motor cars are adopting 
a new device which instantly reports the 
failure of either of the rear signal lamps. 
The penalties in that country for running 
without the full complement of lights are 
heavy. The device is for use in connection 




Tells When Light Goes Out 

with electric lamps, and the instant a lamp 
fails the fact is announced by the ringing 
of an electric bell. For the purpose of 
illustrating the apparatus, the connecting 
wire is shown exposed in the cut. In use 
the wire is concealed. 



CULM BURNING LOCOMOTIVE 



The illustration shows the latest type of 
passenger locomotive built by the American 
Locomotive Co. for the Lackawanna. In 
order to burn hard coal culm the firebox is 
made large, being 100 in. wide by 126 in. 
long, with a heating surface of 190 sq. ft. The 
engine and tender weigh 261,200 lb.. The 
tender carries 5,000 gal. water and 10 tons 
of coal. On account of the large firebox the 
engineer's cab is set forward. 




engine That Burns Poor Cool Without Smok* 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



71 



LONGEST TRANSMISSION LINE IN THE WORLD 



Furnishing Mexico City and Suburbs with 200,000 Horsepower==WaterfaII of 2,000 Feet 

==Electric Current, 60,000 Volts 



On the last day of last year the waters 
of the Necaxa river, Mexico, plunged over 
its upper and lower falls nearly 2,000 ft. into 
the valley below. On the first day of this 
year the falls had disappeared, and the peo- 
ple in the valley marveled at the strange 
silence which oppressed them, and gazed in 
won-ier at the ,mist which floated down 
where yesterday a great river had thun- 
dered. 

A world beauty had been captured; 



dustries to be located at the falls. The 
place was inaccessible, and after a few years 
he transferred his rights to a light and 
power company, organized in 1902 to gen- 
erate and transmit electric current. A good 
joke is told on the doctor, who, thinking to 
get a higher price for his concession, bar- 
gained for its sale on the basis of the vol- 
ume of water passing over the falls during a 
given period. This arrangement was agreed 
to, and for two weeks experts measured tha 




BUILDING A DAM— The dams were built by first constructing the "toes" of stone masonry and cement, and then 
filling in the space between until the required height was reached. The filling is sand, gravel and small stones 
brought down by means of water, through pipes, from the mountains. The illustration shows the main pipe 
extending back to the foothills, and the distributing laterals for discharging on the dam, supported on wooden frames 
which are eventually burled with the ruling. 



snatched from its bed of ages; forced to 
flow through dark mountain tunnels and im- 
mense steel pipes; and thus bound, to earn 
its liberty by turning great wheels in an 
underground dungeon, and when finally re- 
leased, to emerge in a placid mill pond, 
robbed of its former power and grace. One 
hundred and eighty-one miles away in a 
big mill, the former thunder of the falls is 
heard, as night and day scores of stamp 
mills pound ceaselessly upon thousands of 
tons of rock rich with the golden metal. 
Beauty has been converted into power, and 
the power is in turn transformed into dol- 
lars. To accomplish this has taken $18,000,- 
000 of money, and the labor of 6,000 men 
for three years. 

Ten years ago a progressive Frenchman, 
Dr. Vaquie, of Mexico City, conceived the 
idea of a waterpower for manufacturing in- 



flow each day. The period chosen by the 
doctor was usually one of great abundance 
of water, but this time turned out to be the 
driest season in many years, so the power 
company bought the rights for about half 
their original offer, which had been refused. 
Already 20,000 hp. is being produced, but 
when the plans are carried out the output 
will be 200,000 hp. and is to make possible 
the ""ast manufacturing enterprises which 
are now planned for the capital city. Al- 
ready the city water works, all the electric 
cars and all the electric light of Mexico 
City are furnished by power from the falls. 
The city, with 1,500 arc lights along its 
streets, is said, based on population, to be 
the best lighted city in the world, while the 
cost to consumers has been cut in half for 
both light and power, and is the lowest of 
any large city today. A horsepower costs 



72 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 











"if If- . 






% I 0t 




-•'4^.^-%:-:.'.l'.^sr>; 





8,200 HP. TURBINE— There are already six of these 
powerful water engines; seventeen more will be 
Installed soon, producing oyer 200,000 bp. 



$50 per year for continuous use; a reduction 
of 65 per cent over former cost. 

Mexico has now the longest electrical 
transmission line in the world, and engi- 
neers everywhere are studying this latest 
and most modern of all large installations. 
Prom the falls to Mexico City is 95 miles, 
hut the line is continued on to the great 
mining plants at El Ora, 86 miles further, 
making a total of 181 miles. The transmit- 
ting cables weigh 4,200 tons, and are car- 
ried on tall steel towers instead of poles. 
There are over 3,000 of these towers, and 36 
watchmen constantly patrol the entire line 
night and day. The line cost $10,000 per 
mile. Notwithstanding the enormous volt- 
age — 60,000 volts — at which current is trans- 
mitted, a telephone line is in operation 9 
ft. above the feeder wires, but the extreme 
danger of its use has led to experiments 
with wireless and in a few weeks the wire- 
less system will be used exclusively. 

The loss in transmission, transforming 
and leakages of all kinds over the entire 
system is only 20 per cent, and it is ex- 
pected this will soon be reduced to 12 per 
cent. The present loss between the generat- 
ing station and the city, 95 miles, is only 
6 per cent; and from the city to El Ora, 
86 miles, is 8 per cent. At El Ora all the 
work of hoisting, stamping, drilling, etc., 
amounting to 10,000 hp., is being done with 
transmitted power, and new machinery now 
going in will raise the power consumption 
to 18,000 hp. The saving here over coal, 



formerly used, is a reduction from $200 to 
$50 per horsepower per year. 

The power house contains six sets of gen- 
erating machinery, with an output of 40,000 
hp. This will be increased as fast as needed 
until the station is producing 200,000 hp. 
The present effective head of water is 1,413 
ft., which gives a pressure at the lower 
gates of 595 lb. per square inch. When the 
auxiliary station is completed it will have 
the enormous head of 2,100 ft. and a lower 
gate pressure of 900 lb. per square inch. 

In its passage from the river above the 
falls, to the power station, the water flows 
through canals; 4% miles of mountain tun- 
nels; 5% miles of 6-ft. and 8-ft. pipes; and 
7 miles of 30-in. steel piping, which is .95 in. 
thick at the lower sections. 




PIPE LINES— Section of the great steel tubes Id 
which the water is conducted down the mountain to the 
power house. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



73 



The watershed drained hy the Necaxa 
has an annual rainfall of 135 in., and to 
conserve this great body of water four 
dams are being built, ranging from 66 ft. 
to 177 ft. in height, with a total length of 
over one mile. These will form vast lakes, 
containing five billion cubic feet of water, 
affording a reserve supply of 50 per cent 
more than required. 

In the construction of the work 27 miles 
of railroad were built, and an aerial ele- 
vator capable of hoisting 15 tons at one 
load. This elevator travels on steel cables 
reaching from the valley to the crest of the 
upper falls, and has a drop of 1,200 ft. 

The turbines, which were made in Switz- 
erland, are 100 in. in diameter and carry 
24 cast steel buckets. Modern Mexico says: 

"The water is directed against the buckets 
from two nozzles, set diametrically opposite 
each other, an advantage of the vertically 
set wheel over the horizontal system usually 
employed in that the force is continuous, 
and the water from each of the two streams 
cannot interfere with that from the other, 
giving a vast power and an evenly balanced 
wheel, allowing a smaller wheel, higher 
speed and lighter bearings. The two nozzles, 
which have rectangular openings, are 4% 
in. square when opened full, and are auto- 
matically regulated by oil governors, so 
joined that the openings of the valves of 
the nozzles are always equal in size. A 
safety valve allows for the escape of the 
water if the pressure gets beyond the con- 
trol and the wheel moves too fast. 

"The present overhead line of nearly two 
hundred miles is the longest ever attempted 
from a single power house. In California 
there are lines aggregating 243 miles about 
San Francisco, but this measurement is ob- 
tained by taking the entire circuit, of lines, 
into which several power houses feed at 
various points along the line. The greatest 
distance to which the power from the va- 
rious Niagara Falls plants is transmitted 
is 60 miles, to Toronto, Canada. The cur- 
rent generated in Necaxa is three-phase, and 
when raised to the high potential of 60,000 
volts, is taken out in four circuits, three 
wires to -each circuit. For handling tne cur- 
rent conductors consisting of six-strand 
copper cables with hemp cores are used. 
The copper cables are half an inch in 
diameter, and have a strength of 60,000 lb., 
and an elastic limit of 40,000 lb. per square 
inch. The cables are shipped in lengths of 
3.000 ft., and joints are made with 18-in. 
copper sleeves. Cables will stand a wind 
-velocity of 100 miles per hour." 

A great stimulus to manufacturing will 




CABLEWAY ELEVATOR-This elevator is hung by 
trolleys from two steel cables, stretching from the 
valley 1,200 ft. up the mountain. It was used for hoist- 
ing materials which could be taken up in no other way. 
Fifteen tons are elevated at one load. 

immediately occur on account of the cheap- 
ness of the power, which will be sufficient 
to supply 400 industries with 500 hp. each; 
at the same time the absence of smoke and 
gases from burning coal will make Mexico 
City the smokeless city. A total investment 
of $31,000,000 will be made by the power 
company in carrying out its plans. 

♦ » ♦ 

A Philadelphia man who was stabbed in 
a fight had his heart removed, sewed up 
with six stitches and replaced in his body. 
He has a good chance of recovery, for all 
that his heart was in the surgeon's handg 
20 minutes. 




ENCYCLOPEDIA 



75 



AIRSHIP CIRCLES WASHINGTON MONUMENT 



Sails Around the Dome of the Capitol and Makes a Call at the White 

House==Flight Covers 20 Miles 



Stately senators and eloquent congress- 
men are no more immune to the sensation 
of a real airship overhead than the aver- 
age small boy at a county fair. Business at 
the Capitol was suspended for a full half- 
hour, while the entire city gazed skyward. 
There was good reason for it all, too, for a 
young American from California was demon- 
strating* in a way never accomplished by 
even Santos Dumont. An airship sailing 
around the great dome of the Capitol, like 
some mammoth bird, and later circling 
around the Washington monument in a 
graceful ascending spiral, was something 
never before witnessed. 

Prom the monument the ship sailed 
straight for the White House and gently 
came to rest on the lawn, where the Presi- 



dent's wife, in his absence, acknowledged 
this, the most novel call ever made at the 
executive mansion. 

The captain of the airship is a young Cali- 
fornian — Lincoln Beachy — who is a mere 
youth. He became interested in the work 
while helping a balloon man in San Fran- 
cisco a few months ago. His ship is 66 ft. 
long, 16 ft. in diameter, with a two-bladed 
propeller in front and a large rudder. The 
flight described was of nearly 20 miles. The 
construction of the gas engine will readily 
be understood from the illustration. 
♦ » ♦ 

A German lad has invented a device for 
controlling and changing the direction of a 
torpedo after it has been fired. His machine 
is being tested by German naval officials. 



NOTABLE FOREIGN LOCOMOTIVES==No. 6 




PALESTINE— THIS CONSOLIDATION LOCO^^TIVE IS ONE OF SEVERAL OF THE 
SAME TYPE IN USE ON THE DAMASCUS & MECCA RAILWAY, PALESTINE. THIS EN- 
GINE IS NOW HAULING TRAINS IN THE LAND OF CANAAN "BEYOND JORDAN" THE 
GAUGE OF THE RAILWAY IS 3 FT. 5'/ 4 IN. THE ENGINE WEIGHS 45 TONS AND THE 
TENDER 40 TONS. 



76 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



PANAMA CANAL TO BE LOCK TYPE 



The Panama Canal will be of the lock 
type, and with $25,000,000 in hand for actual 
work the digging will now commence in 
earnest. Time and expense were the rea- 
sons for the decision. The sea level canal 
would have cost $400,000,000 and required 
20 years to build, whereas the lock canal 
can be in use in 10 years and is estimated 
to cost only $140,000,000, while the operating 
expense of the lock type will be $2,000,000 
less per year than the other. The locks can 



be removed at some future time when the 
income and necessities warrant the expendi- 
ture. The decision is the result of the rec- 
ommedation of the President, who will visit 
the Isthmus next fall and make a personal 
study of the situation instead of relying on 
reports of engineers and others. In view 
of the great importance of the enterprise 
and the amount of money involved, this trip 
of the chief executive will meet with gen- 
eral approval as a businesslike thing to do. 




CANAL CUT THROUGH SOLID ROCK 



The Corinthian canal which connects the 
waters of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece, with 
those of the Gulf of Egina is one of the 
most remarkable in existence. It is a sea 
level canal, only four miles long, but it is 
a channel cut straight through the solid 
rock, the massive walls towering on either 
side to a height of 260 ft. 

The canal was built in 1882-1893 and 
enables vessels to sail from the Archipelago 
to the Adriatic without rounding Cape 
Matapan. The ancients saw the advantages 
in a canal through the isthmus and several 
unsuccessful attempts at constructing one 
were made, first by Periander, tyrant of 
Corinth, in 600 B. C. ; later Julius Caesar 
and Caligula revived the scheme, and still 
later the Emperor Nero re-embarked the 
project with more promise, but on his death 
it was abandoned. 

The canal cost $11,000,000. The rush of 
wind through its rock-walled channel is at 
times terrific and vessels passing through 
are obliged to tie up till the storm subsides. 
Iron stanchions to which the ships may 
fasten are placed at 600-ft. intervals and 
the canal is lighted by electricity at night. 
Our illustration shows J. Pierpont Morgan's 
steam yacht "Corsair" passing through the 
canal. 

♦ o ♦ 

RAILWAY PHOTOGRAPH CARS 



Copyright, Underwood Si Dnderwood, New York 



A Sea Level Canal 



Two cars have been fitted up with all the 
requirements for taking, developing and fin- 
ishing large and small photographs and 
will be used by the Southern Pacific. A 
corps of expert photographers will be em- 
ployed in taking thousands of views of scen- 
ery and cities along the company's lines 
from Portland to New Orleans and Sacra- 
mento to Omaha. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 
HOW A STEAMBOAT CLIMBS A HILL 



77 



Even a steamboat can climb a hill by go- 
ing up one step at a time. This remarkable 
performance can be witnessed several times 
daily during the season of navigation beside 
the Vrang waterfall in the Bandak Nordsjo 
Canal, Norway. At this point falls in tha 
river prevent the passage of boats up or 
down, and a canal has been built around 
the rapids and falls. The ascent is made 
through a series of locks which • accom- 
modate one boat at a time, and in passing 
from the lower to the upper lock the boat 
is lifted about 90 ft. The illustration shows 
a boat entering the second lock on its way 
up the hill. In this instance the locks are 
small, as none but small boats are in serv- 
ice and the locks are continuous. The pic- 
ture, however, gives an excellent idea of the 
lock system. In the case of the Panama 
Canal the locks will have to be the largest 
ever built and will be located at intervals 
over the entire route, according to the topog- 
raphy of the country. 



HIGHWAY ENGINEERING AN INVIT= 
ING FIELD 



Highway engineering offers a promising 
field, both in honors and money, to the ambi- 
tious young man. Not only are the people 
of this country waking up to the value of a 
good road but they are beginning to appre- 
ciate the fact that while anybody can scrape 
a little dirt into the middle of the road, 
that, as in other things, it is cheaper in the 
long run to have experience and brains as 
well as teams and scrapers. 

When some one feature of a general line 
becomes important the condition is recog- 
nized by being specialized. The practice of 
law has thus naturally divided into many 
branches, and a man who has a patent to 
secure or defend does not apply to a noted 
criminal lawyer to prosecute his case. A 
heart specialist is not called to perform a 
difficult surgical operation. Hence, the time 
has come when the services of a specialist 
in highway engineering are called for rather 
than those of some other engineering special- 
ist whose work is hydraulics, ventilation, 
lighting or tunneling. Indeed the demand 
for highway specialists has reached the 
point where a well known college of en- 
gineering and mechanics has made highway 
engineering a special course extending over 




A Lock Canal=»Five Locks Connected in Series==Un- 
usual Construction. 

four years of study. Having completed this 
course, the young engineer starts out in life 
better qualified and possessed of more ex- 
perience than he would secure in the ordi- 
nary course of events in a whole lifetime. 



ALCOHOL FROM WASTE SAWDUST 



In anticipation of the large demand for 
alcohol for light, heat and power, prepara- 
tions are being made for the erection of 
plants through the South to work up the 
mountains of sawdust made at the saw- 
mills. The first plant, using a new mechani- 
cal process and costing $250,000, is nearly 
completed at Hattiesburg, Miss. 



78 ENCYCLOPEDIA 

CONSTRUCTION OF INFERNAL MACHINES 



Chemical and Mechanical Skill of High Order Employed in Making Bombs 




Bomb Exploding in Attempt on the King of Spain 

The recent attempt on the life of the King 
and Queen of Spain, under conditions which 
outraged the entire civilized world, calls at- 
tention to the high order of chemical and 
mechanical skill engaged in the invention 
and construction of infernal machines and 
bombs. The clumsy gas pipe bomb of 2D 
years ago, which was not only difficult to 
conceal but more dangerous to the possessor 
than to the intended victim, has been re- 
placed by apparatus of a high mechanical 
order and whose operation can be adjusted 
to a nicety. 



That the recent attempt at assassination 
failed was through no fault of the mecha- 
nism of the bomb, which exploded exactly 
as planned as to time, and the point at 
which it burst Was as accurate as possible 
with a missile thrown from a fifth-story 
window. 

Illustrations of some of the infernal ma- 
chines and bombs which have been captured 
during the past few years by the secret serv- 
ice of the Paris police show the internal con- 









^p 








^^S 




w±/% 




yp 




ii 





Fig. l==Bomb in Bouquet Same as Used recently 

at Madrid 

struction and external finish of these fearful 
engines of death to be of a high order of 
workmanship. 

Fig. 1 shows a small bomb capable of be- 
ing carried in a bouquet and is similar to 




Fis. 2 



Fig. 3 



Fig. 4 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



79 




Glass tube. 

...CONTAJNINS 
GREEN POWDER. 



COTTON 

WOOL 



Sulphuric acid 



Scrap Iron 



CLOCK. 
CONNECTED Lj| 
WITM ELECTRic 

CORRtNT 



NDUCTlON COIL 




box containing 

the Electric 

pile 



3PACE FILLED 
WITM 

"Chlorate of 
potash, car7ridoe3, 
And Scrap iron 



FULMINATE DETONATOR. 



Fig. 5 



Chemical and Electric Infernal Machines 



Fig. 6 



the one used in Madrid. The spikes, which 
extend in all directions, make it impossible 
for the bomb to strike any hard substance 
without one or more of the spikes receiving 
the blow which explodes the cap and in turn 
the explosive contents. Pig. 2 shows a bomb 
which was made for use at the explosion 
of the Orient club at Constantinople. It 
contained a large number of dynamite bullet 
cartridges in addition to the bulk explosive. 
In Fig. 3 is seen one of Orsini's bombs, 
showing the detonating studs. In Fig. 4 is 
a chemical detonator in which water is the 
prime factor of action. This bomb must 
be carried in an exact position and will 
explode at the expiration of a prearranged 
period of time, which is determined by the 
amount of blotting paper. This paper grad- 
ually takes up the water in the bottom of 
a tube until the moisture rises to a layer of 



sodium, which is thus ignited and fires the 
fulminate of mercury, which in turn ex- 
plodes the dynamite with which the bomb 
is filled. This machine requires very care- 
ful manipulation and to be kept in an up- 
right position, or it will explode prema- 
turely. 

Fig. 5 is also a chemical bomb, contain- 
ing sulphuric acid, which ignites the charge 
and scatters sharp nails and bits of' rusty 
iron. 

Fig. 6 is an infernal machine which is 
more complicated than the others, but safer 
to handle, and which can be made to explode 
hours after it has been placed. The dial on 
a clock enables the operator to time the 
explosion to a minute. 

Chemical bombs have been recovered in 
Russia which are fired by the action of 
water on sodium. 




Fig. 7--Russlan Chemical Bombs 



80 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




FIRST STEEL STEAM PASSENGER CAR 



Passenger cars built of steel have been in 
use some time on street car lines, elevated 
roads and subways, but only within a few 
weeks past has there been an all-steel pas- 
senger car for steam roads. This car, which 
in appearance closely resembles a car of 



wood construction, is 74 ft. long and painted 
to resemble wood. It was built in Pittsburg 
for the Southern railway and is doubtless 
the beginning of a change which in not 
many years will remove from service all 
passenger cars constructed of wood. 



LARGEST FREIGHT STEAMER 
THE WORLD 



IN 



The largest freight steamer in the world 
now floats on Lake Michigan, having re- 
cently been launched at Chicago. The hull 
is steel, 600 ft. long and 58 ft. wide. If set 
up on end it would extend 45 ft. above the 
Washington monument. The forward deck 
rises 30 ft. above the water. The vessel, 
which is named the "J. Pierpont Morgan," 
has engines of 3,600 hp., weighs 4,800 tons 
and will travel 11% miles per hour, loaded, 
on a coal consumption of 3,000 lb. per hour. 



LIFE=SAVING BRIDGE NET 

Near Monte Carlo is a narrow bridge 
crossing a deep chasm, and on account of a 
sudden turn in the road, at the foot of a 
steep hill, several fatal accidents have oc- 
curred. To prevent cyclists and automotor- 
ists from plunging over the low stone guard, 



mmmm^ m ■ M 




^Hiyi 




^HiPP 


£« pt * g ^s 




■*■ 4iJiiJji|g 


n^ , 


■ ^hH < 




ies£& 



a wire net supported by a strong steel frame 
has been erected by the Touring Club of 
France, and has already saved the lives of a 
number of over-daring and careless riders. 



HOUSE AUTO FOR ADVERTISING 



An energetic concern manufacturing roof- 
ing for houses has adopted a unique adver- 
tising scheme. A small one-story house is 
built on a motor car, the house being con- 
structed of the roofing and other materials 




Wire Net for Catching Bicyclists 



Traveling Roof Exhibit 

manufactured by the firm. At the top is a. 
good-sized sign. The house-cars are sent out 
through the country distributing samples 
and getting people interested in the goods. 






ENCYCLOPEDIA 



81 



LIFE=SAVING HELMETS 



Enables Repairing in Clouds of Deadly 
Fumes from Chemicals 



When an ammonia pipe bursts in an ice 
factory or cold storage plant, the fact is 
known instantly. Not only the startling 
explosion warns the workmen, but the 
clouds of deadly, poisonous fumes which 
instantly fill the place drive every living 
thing which can do so to make its escape. 
The principle of the submarine diver's out- 
fit has been used in providing a workmen's 
helmet which enables a man to enter a room 



and its flow regulated by a valve. A gauge 
always shows the exact amount of the 
supply. 

Opposite each ear is an ear piece which 
has a sounding diaphragm which transmits 
sounds like a telephone receiver. The oper- 
ator can hear but not talk. He can give 
signals, however, .for in front of the mouth 
is a tube leading to a whistle which hangs 
in front of the helmet, by means of which 
he can give prearranged signals or call for 
help. 

The two lookouts for the eyes are in- 
genious, being made of mica, of double 
thickness. As moisture from the breath at 
intervals clouds the vision, a cleaner which 




Front 



Side View 



Rear 



and work for an entire hour where he could 
not otherwise live two minutes. 

When an ammonia pipe bursts the first 
thing is to get to the nearest cut-off valve 
and shut off the flow. This can seldom be 
done for the reason that at the first whiff 
of the deadly gases the man falls senseless 
and in a few moments dies. Such accidents 
are frequently reported in the daily papers, 
especially during the summer when the ice 
plants are being run to their utmost 
capacity. 

The life-saving device which enables the 
wearer to walk fearlessly into danger con- 
sists of a tight fitting helmet which rests 
upon the shoulders and is held securely by 
straps passing under the arms. A tank on 
the back of the helmet contains a supply 
of air to last one hour, the air being fed 
into the helmet immediately under the nose, 



passes over the inside of the lookouts is 
turned by the wearer, by means of small 
thumbscrews on the outside. The hands 
and other portions of the body not covered 
by the helmet are exposed. In this respect 
as well as being able to move freely and at 
will anywhere, the operator has a decided 
advantage over the diver, who is heavily 
loaded and who must constantly guard his 
air pipe and never strain it by going be- 
yond its length. In the head protector the 
waste air finds an outlet along the edges of 
the helmet next the shoulders, instead of 
through a valve. The protector can be put 
on and made ready for use in a few seconds. 
The air tank is always kept filled ready for 
any emergency. In addition to use in ice 
plants, the helmet can be used in mines, or 
buildings filled with smoke, and several 
navies include them in their equipment. 



82 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



A MECHANICAL ICE HOUSE 



In Which One Solid Cake Fills the Building==Freezing 
by Natural Cold 



The most remarkable ice house event was 
the freezing' in the house itself of a single 
solid cake of ice the full size of the build- 
ing. The only tools employed were some 
pieces of string and a garden hose. Cold 
weather and a water supply with at least 
moderate pressure are also essential, but 
all out-door cutting, hauling, and storing 
are avoided, and, as no sawdust is used, the 
ice comes out clear and clean. 

Owing to the mild weather of the past 
winter, there is a great scarcity of ice this 
season. Many small lakes and rivers, which 
have always been depended on to give a 
good supply, failed to freeze more than a 
few inches, and it will be impossible to 
furnish this deficiency by means of artificial 
ice plants, even though all the refrigerating 
machines in the land were worked to their 
full capacity. 



Fig. 1 



Fig. 3 



Fig. 5 



Fig. 2 



Fig. 4 



Fig. 6 




Stages of Formation 



Building Ice Strata 

Some three years ago a mechanical ice 
house was patented, in which the' water 
was frozen inside the ice house by a very 
rapid process, which will be described later. 
In this process the labor of cutting and 
hauling is obviated without the use of pow- 
erful or expensive machinery. That this 
process has never been carried further than 
the experimental stage is probably owing to 
the fact that the winter following its inven- 
tion was the severest in 40 years, Lake 
Michigan being frozen from shore to shore 
at that time. The experiment, so far as 
conducted, seems to have been successful, 
a large barn being filled with practically 
one solid cake of ice. 

The process of freezing ice in this way is 
as follows: A large ice house is built with 
two of the opposite walls hinged, allowing 
them to be opened by folding up during" 
cold weather, and closed during milder 
weather, thus preventing the ice from melt- 
ing. To begin operations a number of 
strings are suspended from the rafters at 
distances of two or three feet apart. The 
strings hang down and touch the floor, as 
shown in Fig. 1, and the first cold night 
they are sprayed with water, which forms 
large icicles reaching from the floor to the 
top, as shown in Fig. 2. A quantity of 
water is then flowed into the ice house, as 
chown in Fig. 3, and allowed to freeze. 

When the ice is one inch thick the water 
is pumped from underneath it and flowed 
on top, leaving only one inch remaining 
below, as shown in Fig. 4. When the upper 
layer of water has frozen one inch the 
remaining water is again pumped above the 
ice, leaving an inch as before and adding 
enough extra water to compensate for the 
inch that is left each time. This makes" 
three surfaces exposed to the weather, as 
shown in Fig. 5. This process is continued 
until the ice house . is full, the lower part 
being soon filled, as shown in Fig. 6. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



83 



To prevent the water from running off 
the edges, a wall of ice is formed by first 
stretching cheesecloth all around the edge 
and then spraying with water. The object 
of making the icicles is to support the large 
sheets of ice, which would be unable to hold 
the weight of the water without the use of 
the ice columns. 

When the ice house is full, the walls are 
closed up tight until the ice is wanted. A 
small door is then opened and the ice is 
mined out as wanted, the cracks between 
the layers greatly facilitating the operation 
of splitting it up into symmetrical pieces 
of uniform size. 



THE BROTAN LOCOMOTIVE BOILER 
AND SUPER=HEATER 



This new type of locomotive boiler has 
been the subject of recent experiments by 
the Austrian and German governments. 
This boiler has a water tube firebox, and 
was designed to obviate the troubles arising 
from the use of copper fireboxes, especially 
when used with high pressures; as the ten- 
sile strength of copper decreases with 
higher temperatures. 

The Brotan boiler consists of an upright 
and a longitudinal part, the latter being 
composed of a fire tube boiler and a steam 







tUjUjUii 


W£Mz£~- " 




HP^ 












rj Mflratfjiifrntiii 


f -\ 




^M 


". ■; 








BflfllwSHHi 




■rS, 




I9H 




^ 


t£^7* : 


. '^v^BF 


^ iB 




n JJ ■-.'• 
gPtt 


P7 

r 




jjjlt-'jig 


» 


fti 












)) }!i|tt 








nPjl 




■ •j *£jgP * ' 


v mt ** * & 






Wq 








r ..^--:~-:vlji- 




. _j*» 


-*- v*8%kd 


Li|k 



















New Locomotive Boiler Now Being Tested 



FLUID LENSES CHEAPER THAN 
GLASS 



The largest glass lens for astronomical 
purposes ever manufactured is 4.92 ft. in 
diameter. A Hungarian chemist has a proc- 
ess by which optical lenses three times as 
large and, it is claimed, just as good can 
be manufactured. His process, too, is sim- 
ple and much cheaper. 

The process consists in enclosing a fluid 
substance between two unusually hard glass 
surfaces similar to watch crystals, the whole 
carefully adjusted as to refractive power, 
etc., and the glass hermetically sealed, so no 
air can enter. 

Where large glass lenses cost thousands of 
dollars and require years to make, a fluid lens 
of the same size can be manufactured in a 
few weeks at a cost of $100, and the method 
is adaptable to opera-glass and other small 
lenses as well as to the larger ones. 



collector with a dome, to which is connected 
the collector tube, arranged over the ver- 
tical boiler. The fire tube part has two 
round flanged tube walls made of soft steel, 
between which is the cylindrical shell. The 
whole cylindrical section from the firebox 
wall to the smoke chamber is filled with 
fire tubes of usual size, and is connected 
by three tubes arranged on the top with the 
steam collector. The smoke chamber is 
extended above. The steam pipe leads from 
the dome through the front end of the 
steam collector into the steam inlet pipe in 
the smoke chamber. 

The firebox consists principally of bent 
tubes arranged close together and expanded 
at their upper ends into the collector tube. 
The vaultlike surface thus formed, together 
with the reinforced bottom of the collector 
tube and the circular wall of the longitu- 
dinal boiler, enclose the fire chamber like a 
box over the grate. 



84 ENCYCLOPEDIA 

A MODERN PLEASURE LAUNCH 




PARTS OF A MODERN MOTOR BOAT— A, VENTILATING FUNNEL; B, HEADLIGHT; C, 
AIR DUCT; D, FORWARD HATCH; E, ENGINE; F, MOTOR FOUNDATION; G, FUEL PIPE; 
H, AIR INLET; I, EXHAUST PIPE; K, STRAINER FOR CIRCULATING WATER; L, STEER- 
ING WHEEL; M, FORWARD BULKHEAD; N, REVERSING GEAR; O, REVERSING LEVER; 
P, SEARCHLIGHT; Q, FUEL TANK; R, EXHAUST NOZZLE; S S, AIRTIGHT COMPART- 
MENTS; T, STUFFING-BOX; U, KEEL; V, SKAG; W, SHOE; X, LOCKER; Y, COCKPIT. 



Pleasure launches or motor boats are 
rapidly growing in favor, and every lake 
resort now has its fleet of these boats. The 
great improvement in gasoline engines is 
chiefly responsible for their use, as motors 
are now so simple and reliable any one can 
learn to operate such a boat in a few hours. 
Moreover they are always ready for use at 
an instant's notice, and the former tedious 
delay of getting up steam is avoided, and 
the services of a skilled engineer is entirely 
unnecessary. 

The boat illustrated is one of the latest 
types, and is 30 ft. long with a speed of 
from 13 to 15 miles per hour. The power 
consists of a 25-hp. 4-cylinder 4-cycle motor. 
The motor is placed forward under the deck, 
and inclosed with tight fitting bulkhead 
doors. This not only removes the engine 
from sight, but the noise of its working can 
scarcely be heard. The arrangement keeps 
the cockpit free from oil and dirt. 

Another new feature is the starting 
device. To start the engine the steering 
wheel is pushed in and given one or two 
turns. This action does not move the rud- 
der but starts the engine, after which the 
steering wheel automatically resumes its 
former place and connection with the steer- 
ing gear. 

To gain access to the crank chamber the 
motor is simply tipped up on the two for- 
ward foundation trunnions, when the lower 
half of the crank case is easily removed, 
exposing bearings, crank shaft and cranks 
for easy adjustment of wear. Only a few 



minutes are necessary to loosen the foun- 
dation bolts, exhaust, fuel and water con- 
nections, to make the motor ready for tilt- 
ing. The shaft automatically disconnects 
itself by means of a tongue and groove steel 
coupling, directly attached to the reversing 
gear, which drives a solid propeller. The 
coupling also acts as a universal joint, so 
that any non-alignment of the motor and 
propeller shaft will not cause undue strains, 
but always run smoothly. 

The motor carries its own dynamo for 
supplying electricity for ignition purposes 
and for charging the storage batteries from 
which the electric head- and search-lights 
are operated. Besides the dynamo and 
storage battery, an auxiliary dry battery is 
also carried. This gives three independent 
sources of electricity for motor ignition and 
electric lighting. The electrical equipment 
is placed high and dry above the motor. 

The gasoline tank is inclosed in an air- 
tight bulkhead, and any leakage drains 
overboard and cannot enter the boat. Air- 
tight compartments would keep the boat 
afloat even when filled with water. 

A stationary center table is provided in 
the cockpit, on which stands an electric 
light; the entire boat lighting, including 
signal lights, are supplied from the dynamo 
and storage battery. A removable canopy 
top — not shown — can be erected or taken 
down in a few minutes. The American 
Shipbuilder says: "This is the type of boat 
that promises to be the forerunner of the 
modern pleasure launch." 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



85 



ENGLISH MOUNTAIN BATTERY 



The "mountain batteries" of the English 
artillery will climb almost anything. Kip- 
ling says of them, they "climb up the side 
of a sign board and trust to the stick of 
the paint." The illustration shows a com- 



THE AUTOMATIC MILKING 
MACHINE 




Artillery Scaling a Wall 

pany engaged in wall-scaling practice, taking 
pieces of light artillery with them. 



What has for years been declared vision- 
ary and impossible — a practical milking ma- 
chine — is at last an accomplished fact and 
will in the near future be added to the me- 
chanical equipment of all large farms and 
dairies. The inventor, who is a Virginian, 
worked for 15 years in perfecting it. By 
operating three machines he has been en- 
abled to milk 45 cows in one hour. The 
exact time required, as in the case of milk- 
ing by hand, depends somewhat upon how 
easy the cow milks. It is said to be an easy 
task for two men or boys in charge of four 
machines to milk 50 cows in one hour. 

The machine proper comprises a large 
pail of block tin with an aluminum cover on 
which is mounted a pump which works 
automatically when connected by rubber 
tubes with a system of pipes extending 
throughout the stable. Between each two 
cows a branch pipe extends, to which the 
rubber tubing can be attached. The sys- 
tem of pipes at some distance away con- 
nects with a compressor which, of course, 
can be operated by a number of different 
kinds of power; electric power or gasoline 
engine is preferable. One size of compres- 
sor requires 2 hp. to operate it, and the 
next larger size requires 3 hp. 

The lid of the pail in turn is connected 
with the teats of the cow by a rubber tube 
three feet in length, one end of which is 
supplied with four cups which fit over the 



One of the first demon- 
strations of the power of 
submarine signals was en- 
tirely accidental. A work- 
man was digging a well on 
Nahant, and complained 
that he heard a bell ringing 
in the ground. It was later 
discovered that what he 
heard was the sound of a 
submarine bell which was 
being operated near Egg 
Rock Light. 



One of the curious after- 
the-fire advertisements i n 
San Francisco papers is 
that of chemists, who guar- 
antee to furnish a tran- 
script of charred papers 
found in vaults. The courts 
will probably recognize the 
transcripts as valid. 




Milking Machine in Operation 



86 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



teats after the manner shown in the accom- 
panying engraving. There are several sizes 
of these cups made, in order to meet the 
requirements of all dairies; but the size 




Milking Machine 



most in use, it is said, will milk 90 per cent 
of the cows in any dairy. Two of the rub- 
ber tubes thus equipped are connected with 
each pail. As the milk leaves the cow it. 
passes directly into the covered pail, pre- 
cluding the possibility of contamination. 

An important feature of this manner of 
milking is found in the fact that cows seem 
perfectly satisfied with it. Were the cow 
not contented during the process of milk- 
ing she would not yield the normal amount 
of butter fat. The milk is of course drawn 
by the power of suction, and the motion 
is more uniform than that of the human 
hand. In fact, the squeezing methods of the 
human hand are avoided and the machine 
accomplishes the work in the natural man- 
ner in which a calf sucks. 

Experiments with this machine have been 
conducted by the inventor with 150 different 
cows, and some of these experiments have 
been conducted with one cow for an entire 
year. No injury whatever resulted, and as 
to the prolongation or curtailment of the 
flow of milk there was no difference over 
milking by hand. 



FLAG TELEGRAPHY AT SEA 



The Language of the Sea 



By means of an old system of "wireless 
telegraphy," known as the International 
Code of Signals, vessels many miles apart 
can converse on any desired subject and 
send or receive information to the fullest 
degree without any apparatus other than a 
number of flags. These flags are shown in 
the accompanying illustration, where the 
various colors are indicated thus: Yellow 



by dots, red by vertical lines and blue by 
horizontal lines. 

Each flag represents a letter, as indicated, 
and, as there is a flag for each letter in the 
alphabet, any word desired may be spelled 
out by hoisting the proper flags. This is not 
done in practice, as a message even of brief 
length, would consume too much time and 
would be very tiresome if spelled out letter 
by letter. Instead a code is used which 
deals with all matters of a marine nature 
and is arranged in a book in such a manner 
that any ordinary message may be readily 




CODE FLAG 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



87 



ciphered or interpreted. By this code a 
single hoist of flags — from two to four in 
number — indicates a whole sentence. For 
example, the flags, Q, D and S ask the ques- 
tion, "How does the land lie?" F, 0, 
"Are you in danger?" and so on. Of 
course, any sentence that is not found in 
the code-book can be spelled out. In hoist- 
ing the flags they are placed one above an- 
other, thus requiring only one mast to dis- 
play them, and when it happens that the 
wind blows in a line between two ships 
three solid objects, shaped like a cone, a 
sphere and a cylinder, respectively, are 



ELEVATOR SLIDES INTO RIVER 



An unusual accident occurred at Ft. Wil- 
liam, Ont., when the mammoth elevator, 190 
ft. high and filled with over half a million 
bushels of grain, slid into the river. The 
elevator is of the modern steel tank and 
steel frame construction, which prevented 
its total collapse and enabled the saving of 
a considerable part of the contents. The 
Grain Dealers' Journal says: 

Dredging of the river bed and the wash 
of the stream in front of the elevator weak- 
ened the piling at that point, depriving the 




^•snfmtnramtm: 



Elevator 190 Feet High That Pell Into River 



hoisted in place of the flags. By changing 
the relative position of these all the letters 
in the alphabet are represented, but this 
system is not as rapid nor satisfactory as 
the flags and is not used except when the 
position of the flags makes it impossible to de- 
termine their colors. Some ingenious per- 
son with inventive ability may sometime 
find means for keeping the flags in a posi- 
tion such that their colors may always be 
distinguished and thus obviate the necessity 
of carrying two sets of apparatus. 



concrete of its support, and the house being 
loaded to full capacity, the sliding into the 
river was a natural result. The building 
slid 10 ft. towards the river, and stands in 
30 ft. of water. It will have to be torn 
down for reconstruction. The loss is 
$500,000. 

♦ • 4 

A new tunnel route is proposed connect- 
ing New York, Brooklyn and Hoboken, to be 
used by steam roads seeking entrance to 
New York. 



88 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



USE OF DENATURED ALCOHOL 



Domestic and Industrial Purposes Likely to Consume 
the Supply for Some Time 



By W. A. Patton, Consulting Engineer Otto Gas Engine 
Works. 



Perhaps no law passed by Congress in 
late years will exercise such beneficial 
results as the recent law removing tax from 
alcohol for mechanical and industrial 
purposes. 

Alcohol can be produced from any vege- 
table product carrying starch and sugar as, 
for instance, the waste of sugar factories, 
indian corn stalks, potatoes, spoiled grain, 
etc., and can be manufactured for approxi- 
mately 10 cents per gallon and even less 
under favorable conditions. This denatured 
alcohol must be produced under government 
inspection, however, which will add slightly 
to its cost, the government reserving the 
right to name the denaturizing substance to 
be added to it to render it unfit for drink. 
This substance must volatilize (change into 
gas) under practically the same conditions 
as the alcohol. 

This cheap alcohol will be of immense 
benefit to the arts and sciences in many 
ways; for instance, the paint and varnish 
business; for lighting; cooking; the ordi- 
nary gasoline torch, and many other pur- 
poses. The writer believes that the alcohol 
lamp, with its incandescent mantle, clear 
white light, and absence of odor will prac- 
tically replace the evil smelling kerosene 
and gasoline lamps. Alcohol can be used in 
gasoline engines in place of gasoline with 
very slight changes, the same engine giving 
even more power with alcohol. Slightly 
higher compression is required, and a good 
hot spark as it does . not ignite quite as 
readily as gasoline. 

The writer's personal opinion, however, is 
that there will be no immediate change of 
great importance from gasoline to alcohol 
in engines for the following reasons: 

The demand in the arts and sciences, and 
for cooking, lighting, etc., will be so great 
that it will be some years at least before the 
price will be low enough to compete with 
gasoline for power, even at present prices. 
The consumption of gasoline will be greatly 
reduced, thus naturally lowering the price, 
and our old friends, the Standard Oil Com- 
pany, will certainly put forth a strong effort 
to hold their trade, which simply means 
that they will cut the price. 

Any good gasoline engine will run equally 



well on alcohol and even give more power, 
and it will become simply a business propo- 
sition as to which will cost less. Alcohol 
will have a positive advantage in the point 
of safety and evaporation as against gaso- 
line. Gasoline losses in shipment are large, 
especially in barrels and small packages, as 
the evaporation is so rapid any 1 but large 
leaks do not show. It will not be necessary 
to store alcohol underground. 

In the manufacture of alcohol it will not 
be practical to make it on a small scale. 
It is absolutely necessary that the govern- 
ment control the product to prevent its im- 
proper use. The cost of this inspection of 
necessity must be paid by the manufacturer 
(by the consumer in the end) ; and as an 
inspector could test a million gallons in 
bulk as cheaply as one gallon, this would 
prohibit the manufacture by the small 
consumer. 

Alcohol engines are in use by hundreds in 
Germany and on the Continent, some of 
them of large horsepower; both for sta- 
tionary, marine and other purposes. The 
superiority, however, of alcohol over city 
gas or gasoline for cooking and lighting 
purposes is such, and the enormous field in 
this country for its use for these purposes, 
will certainly mane a demand that, with 
its increased use in manufacturing, will 
require all that will be made for several 
years to come. Later it will be used in gas 
engines in place of gasoline. 



LONDON'S FIREBOAT "ALPHA" 



The fireboat "Alpha" is a recent addition 
to the London fire department. The boat is 
a twin-screw, 80 ft. long, and will throw 
1,950 gal. per minute. There is one 3-in. 
nozzle and four 2%-in. deliveries. The 
"Beta" will soon go into service with a 
capacity of 4,000 gal. per minute. 




New Fireboat for London 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



89 




TOBACCO RAISING IS THE GREAT INDUSTRY IN SUMATRA, THE WORK IS DONE BY 
NATIVES UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF ENGLISHMEN. THE ILLUSTRATION SHOWS 
THE TRAMWAY ON WHICH THE BALES ARE HAULED — SOMETIMES SEVERAL MILES— 
FROM THE FERMENTING SHED ON THE PLANTATION TO THE RAILROAD FOR SHIP- 
MENT TO ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD. 



A MACHINISTS' SCHOOL IN THE NAVY 



The navy maintains a school for petty 
officers, consisting of several classes. The 
seaman-gunners' class is one to which men 
of the seaman branch who have served one 
enlistment creditably can be detailed and 
be given a thorough course of instruction in 
the care and operation of guns and their 
mounts, torpedoes, and other ordnance appa- 
ratus; another class is for men of the 
various ratings comprising the artificer 
branch; and still another school trains men 
(known as yeomen) for the special duties 
required of them in the clerical branch. 
The class for training electricians has 
already been described in these columns. 
There is soon to be a class for training- 
machinists. Heretofore machinists were 
enlisted in that rating after having learned 
their trade ashore, and were given such 
instruction as is practicable in the engine 
room of a man-of-war. 

In order, however, to extend to the men 
of the engine room force the same facilities 
for promotion that have been provided for 
the other branches of the service, it has 
been decided to establish, about July 1st, a 
school for machinists, which will be located 
at the Navy Yard, Norfolk, Va. The men 
for instruction are to be selected from the 
ratings of water tender, oiler, and firemen 
1st class, who have served at least one 
enlistment and received an honorable dis- 
charge, whose marks in mechanical ability 
and knowledge of marine* machinery are not 
less than 75 per cent, and who are recom- 
mended by their commanding officers. The 
course will be about one year in length, will 
comprise thorough instruction in shop work, 
and is designed to fit a man for the rating 
of machinist in the navy. The capacity of 



the school will be 100, 25 men to be sent at 
the beginning of each quarter. 

Apprentice seamen who have sufficiently 
good physique to stand the work, and have 
completed the preliminary course of instruc- 
tion at a training station, are now permitted 
to select the rate of coal passer, if they pre- 
fer it to the rate of ordinary seaman. Men 
selecting this rate are eligible to advance- 
ment, as they become proficient, and vacan- 
cies occur, to firemen first and second class, 
oiler, water tender, and chief water tender, 
the latter being the leading rating in the 
fire room. 

Men completing the course in the ma- 
chinists' school will be given the rating of 
machinist's mate and assigned to a sea-going 
ship. Advancement through the enlisted 
ratings is open to them to chief machinist's 
mate, paying $70 a month and allowances. 
They will also have a chance to compete in 
the annual examination for the appointment 
of warrant machinists. This is a life posi- 
tion with all the benefits of longevity pay, 
commutation of quarters, retirement, etc., 
that other officers of the navy receive, and 
is in many respects a very desirable billet. 
The pay ranges from $1,200 a year, upon 
appointment, to $1,800, and allowances, 
which bring it up to over $2,100 per annum. 
Under the law twenty warrant machinists 
may be appointed each year. 
♦ « ♦ 

While an ice factory at Hopkinsville, Ky., 
burned to the ground recently, beneath the 
floor the process of freezing 16,000 lb. of 
ice continued. The freezing cans were low- 
ered into the brine tank just before the fire 
started and the ice was found on examining 
the ruins next day. 



90 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



NEW TYPE SUBMARINE 



Experiments are being made by the French 
government with an entirely new type of 
submarine torpedo boat. The craft consists 
of two steel chambers, one above the other 










"Two Steel Chambers, One Above the Other" 

and connected by steel braces. The operator 
is housed in the upper chamber and has 
communication with the gun crew and 
engineers below by means of a speaking 
tube. The exposed portion of the boat is 
thus made very small, and even this cham- 
ber can be submerged when required. The 
torpedoes are carried in and fired from the 
large chamber. Should the upper part acci- 
dentally be destroyed by a shot the boat 
proper can still be navigated. 
♦ » ♦ 

A TOURING MOTORCYCLE 



Much more attention is being given to 
motorcycles in Prance, Germany and Eng- 
land than here. The better condition of the 




Comfortable Touring Motor 

roads there doubtless has something to do 
with it, although the growing popularity 



and utility of the motorcycle is rapidly 
being recognized in this country. 

The latest French machine is a touring 
motorcycle in which provision is made for 
long runs, and also for the comfort of the 
rider, who is provided with a cushion seat 
with a back rest. The frame is hung low 
and built extra strong. 

♦ » ♦ 

PAPER TIRES FOR AUTOS 



A "Wisconsin man believes he has found 
the ideal tire for automobiles. The tire is 
made of heavy binders' board sawed into 
sections corresponding to the circle of the 
wheel, four or more being required to make 
the circuit. A thick sheet of rubber ia 
wrapped around the rim of the wheel ta 
serve as a cushion and then the paper tir« 
is built up, the segments being bound to. 
gether with white lead. When the tire ia 
of the desired thickness, metal plates, ar- 
ranged so they do not touch each other, are 
applied to both sides of the tire and bolted 
through it. The tread of the tire is flat. 



APPARATUS TO PREVENT SEA= 
SICKNESS 



To some people, the idea of a sea voyage 
is always accompanied with such feelings of 
horror and dread that all the pleasure of the 
trip is lost. All who have ever suffered in 
this way will probably be interested in the 
device illustrated 
herewith, which is 
the invention of 
Messrs. R. and W. 
Otto, of the Sanitas 
Electric Co., Berlin. 

The device con- 
sists of a chair with 
an electric motor at- 
tached in such a 
manner that the 
seat is caused to vi- 
brate. The seat rests on springs which al- 
low it to vibrate up and down very rapidly. 
The inventors explain that this rapid vibra- 
tion counteracts the slow vibration of the 
ship, and actually prevents the outbreak of 
the sickness. The sensation experienced 
while sitting in the chair is not at all dis- 
agreeable, being similar to that felt in the 
jar of an automobile, and so long as the vi- 
bration continues the motion of the boat 
cannot be detected. 

In recent tests the most susceptible per- 
sons have found absolute comfort while sit- 
ting in the vibrating chair. 




ENCYCLOPEDIA 




FLATTEST ARCH BRIDGE EVER BUILT 



The flattest semi-elliptical bridge in the 
world was recently built in Brookside Park, 
Cleveland, O. It consists of four pieces, and 
each piece was completed in a single day. 
The bridge, which is 86 ft. between abut- 
ments, contains no longitudinal reinforce- 
ments whatever. One enormous steel hinge 
is imbedded in the concrete at the crown, 
and one at each of the abutments, thus giv- 
ing the structure freedom to adjust itself to ' 
all conditions. The concrete mixture was: 
1 part portland cement; 2% parts crushed 
limestone, and 5 parts sand. The falsework 



to support the arch, while in process of con- 
struction, was no small part of the expenses, 
for the reason that it had to be absolutely 
unyielding in every direction and suffi- 
ciently strong to carry the weight of the 
arch, amounting to more than 500 tons ex- 
clusive of the hinges; there was, however, 
not the least deflection noticeable in the cen- 
tering when the concrete was placed in posi- 
tion. The top of the arch was thoroughly 
waterproofed by being carefully covered 
with a thick coating of asphalt gum and the 
spandrel walls were all faced with mortar. 



HOW HIGH=GRADE PHOTOGRAPHIC LENSES ARE MADE 



While the skill exercised by optical work- 
men is probably less apparent than that of 
many other industries, it is acquired only 
by an experience extending over many years. 
One of the operations which require par- 
ticular attention is the polishing, as the 
path described by 
the polishing tool 
has a marked effect 
on the accuracy of 
the lens. 

During the process 
of polishing, the lens 
is revolved by a ver- 
tical spindle, which 
is connected to a 
second spindle, hav- 
ing an adjustable ec- 
centric which moves the polishing tool. This 
construction is similar to that of the ma- 
chines used for engraving the fancy curved 
lines on paper money, and the path described 
by the polishing tool also resembles the de- 
signs on bills, as may be seen from the 
illustration, published by courtesy of the 
Optical Journal. 

During the process of polishing the lenses 
are held by sealing wax, which is warmed 
slightly before the lens is applied. When 
one side of the lens has been polished it is 
lacquered to protect the surface and when 
dry it is again applied to the sealing wax. 




Path of the Polishing Tool 



In applying this time it is necessary that 
the center lines of the two surfaces should 
exactly coincide. To do this the sealing 
wax is warmed, and while the lens is slowly 
rotated, the reflection in the lens of some 
clearly defined object is watched to ascer- 
tain if the lens has been fastened in the 
right position. If the lens wabbles the least 
bit the object will appear to move, and the 
operator will then press the lens with a 
small tool until the reflected image stands 
perfectly still. 

After being polished the lenses are tested 
by means of test glasses, in which the per- 
fection of the lens is indicated by the ap- 
pearance of rainbow colors. They are then 
examined by powerful microscopes to dis- 
cover any possible scratches, after which 
they are mounted in carefully turned brass 
mountings. 

The objective lenses of microscopes, while 
not as expensive as photographic lenses, are 
probably more expensive than any other 
article, of equal weight, in the world. These 
lenses, which are smaller than the head of 
a pin, often cost over $5.00, which is about 
five hundred times the cost of an equal 
weight of gold. 

It has been estimated that one pound of 
these lenses would be worth over $6,000,000, 
which would be over sixty million times the 
cost of the plain glass used in making them. 



92 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



AUTOMOBILE AS FIRE ENGINE 




Fire Pump Mounted and Attached to Auto 



An ingenious apparatus has been put on 
the English market, and is being success- 
fully used, whereby an automobile can be 
made to do duty as a Are engine, or to 
pump water for domestic purposes. 

A fire which destroyed a costly summer 
home, far from any fire department, was 
the occasion which suggested the inven- 
tion. The pumping outfit is carried on two 
wheels and can be towed to any place the 
auto can go. To put the pump into action, 
the frame is taken from its carriage and 
placed on the ground, when the driving 
wheels of the auto are raised and placed 
on the friction wheels of the frame. These 
friction wheels are on the shaft which 
drives the pumps. The suction and dis- 
charge hose are then connected and the 
motor started up. An incline is provided 
for running the motor car up on to the 
friction wheels. Instead of a pump, a saw, 
small grinding mill, or other machinery 
can be operated in the same manner. 




PASSENGER CARS TO BE COOL AND 
DUSTLESS 



Aut* Working Pump 



Success is now claimed for an invention 
by an employe of a sleeping car company, 
which automatically cools the air in a pas- 
senger or sleeping car, and at the same time 
removes the dust. The Pullman Company 
has for years had a standing offer to its 
employes of a large reward for an im- 
provement in car ventilation. 

The device is simple and consists of a 
boxlike apparatus which fits closely over 
the deck sash of the upper windows. By a 
clever arrangement of traplike compart- 
ments the air is made to rush into the box 
with the movement of the train and out 
again. This movement of air creates such 
a draft that all the superheated and foul 
air and all the dust and dirt are drawn into 
the box and blown out of it by the suction 
which is created. 

The device does not include an arrange- 
ment for the introduction of fresh air into 
the cars. At present partial dependence is 
placed on open doors and windows for fresh 
air. In the experiments made on the dining 
car of the Baltimore and Ohio special it 
was found that the car was 15° cooler than 
another car which was not fitted with the 
device. Eight of these ventilators are placed 
in an ordinary twelve or sixteen section 
sleeping car. Experiments have also been 
made in crossing the deserts, and it is 
stated that the new ventilators are efficient 
in eliminating from desert travel nearly all 
the choking dust which attends it. 



ENC YCLOPEDI A 



93 



WOMAN PAINTED SIGN ON SKY= 
SCRAPER 



Had you walked down State street, Chi- 
cago, that summer morning you would have 
first noticed the gaping crowd, and then 
following its intent upward gaze, would 
yourself have paused to gape and wonder. 
For there, on a slender board scaffolding 
200 ft. above the sidewalk, slung from the 
top of one of Chicago's skyscrapers, a young 
woman, oblivious to the comment she was 
exciting, was painting a 30x20-ft. sign on 
the wall, and doing a good job, too. The 
young lady was clad in a snowy linen gown 
that had never a splash of paint on it and 
from under her white linen hat her long- 
braided hair hung down her back in a 
surprisingly feminine fashion. Her pres- 
ence tnere was an object lesson in modern 
advertising methods, her own bright idea, 
and was to bring her handsome remunera- 
tion, so what did she care for the loafers' 
comments on feminine temerity. The watch- 
ing crowd became so great, however, that 
the police arrested the young woman on a 
charge of "disorderly conduct, inciting a 
mob," instead of sailing into the mob with 
drawn clubs. Here is another object lesson 
of the law's partiality and miscarried jus- 
tice. Will woman never get her rights!!! 

♦— •-♦ 

ARMY STEAM AMBULANCE 



The largest steam ambulances ever built 
were constructed recently for the Portu- 
guese government for use in its expedition 
in West Africa. As the vehicles will have 
to travel over extremely rough roads and 
through the mountains, special spring-sup- 
ported gears were used. Each ambulance 
weighs 5 tons and is propelled by a 45-hp. 
steam engine, which with the boiler is 



carried at the front. The compartment has 
spring bunks for eight men. On account 
of urgent need these vehicles were built in 
39 days. 

♦ » ♦ 

ELECTRIC PLANT ON LOCOMOTIVE'S 

BACK 



Observers of modern locomotives have 
probably noticed a device attached to the 
top of the boiler as shown in the illustra- 
tion. This device, which is a complete 
electric plant, is usually attached between 




Turbine for Train Illumination 

the stack and the sand box, but is some- 
times placed back of the sand box. It con- 
sists of a small steam turbine, direct-con- 
nected to a very compact two-pole generator, 
and has all electrical connections and mov- 
ing parts carefully protected from the 
weather. 

This apparatus is the survival of several 
other appliances for train illumination 
among which were storage batteries, genera- 
tors driven from the car axles, and small 
reciprocating steam plants in baggage cars, 
all of which proved inferior to the steam, 
turbine for efficiency and reliability. 




Portuguese Steam Ambulance for Use in Africa 



94 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




THE NEW TWIN BATTLESHIPS FOR JAPAN, THE "KASHIMA" AND THE "KATORI," 
BUILT IN ENGLAND, ARE NOW COMPLETED FOR SEA. THEY ARE TWIN SHIPS OF. 
16,400 'TONS DISPLACEMENT. THEIR LENGTH IS 455 FT., THEIR BEAM 78 FT. THE 
ARMOR IS KRUPP AND THE GUNS ARE ELSWICK. THE ARMAMENT CONSISTS OF FOUR 
12-IN. GUNS, FOUR 10-IN., TWELVE 6-IN., TWELVE 12-POUNDERS, THREE 3-POUNDERS, 
SIX POMPOMS, AND FIVE 18-1N. SUBMERGED TORPEDO-TUBES. JAPANESE OFFICERS 
AND CREWS WILL SAIL THE BATTLESHIPS HOME. 



TO EXPLORE GREENLAND IN AN 
AUTO 



An American-built auto of the buckboard 
type has been secured for use by the ex- 
pedition exploring Greenland under the aus- 
pices of the Government of Denmark. 
Myhus-Erichsen, who has had charge of the 
work for several years, is 
confident the motor car, 
which weighs only 550 lb. 
and is driven by a 4-hp. 
engine, will prove a great 
success. 

The Politiken, a leading 
newspaper of Copenhagen, 
says: "The gauge of the 
car is very broad, so that 
it will not easily upset, 
and the whole machinery 
is simple and well covered. 
As gasoline freezes ' at 
about 40 degrees Centi- 
grade cold, and as prob- 
ably a still heavier cold can be expected, 
there will be made an arrangement for 
warming purposes worked with pure alcohol, 



which only freezes at a lower tempera- 
ture, and by means of which the gasoline 
will be kept liqujd in the tank. Around the 
rubber tubes of the wheels there is not a 
rubber cover, which would break in the 
cold, but a cover of leather or linen. The 
car will be arranged to be placed on sleigh 
runners, so it can be drawn by dogs and 




For Negotiating Greenland's Glaciers 

men if loose snow is met with. It is the 
intention all the time to have dogs beside 
the car, so that it can always be transported 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



95 



if the machine should break. There is no 
doubt that the automobile can be used to ad- 
vantage on the East Greenland fjords, which 
are often twenty and thirty Danish miles 
long (a Danish mile is equal to 4% English 
statute miles), where the ice will be lying 



even and smooth for months, and if Erich- 
sen succeeds in bringing the car up the val- 
leys of the glacier territory to the plateau, 
he will also try to drive it over the never- 
crossed northern ice of Greenland's upland 
region." 



"TEAM=WORK" IN WAR 



By Major George O. Squier, Signal Corps, U. S. Army, Assistant Commandant of the 

U. S. Signal School 



The underlying cause of the Russian 
defeat by the Japanese in the recent war 
was irresistible "team-work." The Japanese 
infantry soldier was no better, their artil- 
lery material and their cavalry were in- 
ferior, the numbers engaged were approxi- 
mately the same; yet from the beginning 
to the end- of the conflict the Japanese were 
successful. Never before in the world's 
history has there been seen a gigantic team 
•of forty millions of people bending every 
effort so completely to one common purpose 
at one given time. From the Emperor of 
Japan to the lowest coolie in the rice pad- 
dies at home, each did his part, great or 
small, to defeat Russia. On the one side 
were organization and combination of 
effort, while on the other were disorder, 
lack of harmony and intrigue. 

The principle of "team-work," when 
applied to guide human endeavor, is the 
paramount discovery of the present century. 
It is the principle which has made it pos- 
sible for the Standard Oil corporation in a 
minimum time to plan a campaign and 
defeat its enemies in any part of the world. 
It is the principle which enables the citizen 
to travel in comfort and safety from Chi- 
cago to San Francisco, a distance of 2,000 
miles, in less than three days. It is the 
principle which has concentrated at San 
Francisco, after the recent appalling earth- 
quake disaster, unprecedented assistance 
and succor of all kinds. In fact, it is this 
industrial discovery which has placed the 
United States ahead of the world in 
material progress. 

The one unchanging factor in warfare is 
the individual physical strength of a man. 
The soldiers of Caesar's army were physic- 
ally no stronger nor weaker than our own. 
Progress in the art of war, therefore, con- 
sists in the realization of certain funda- 
mental conceptions from time to time, and 
the seizure of one idea at a time, working 



it out in detail, and applying it before an 
enemy realizes its importance. These fun- 
damental ideas have been slow to impress 
themselves upon military leaders, and, 
therefore, that nation which first takes hold 
of a new fundamental principle of war, and 
works it out with the greatest perfection in 
time of peace, possesses an insuperable 
advantage when suddenly the conflict is 
precipitated. 

Frederick the Great inherited an army 
which had been trained in peace, and he 
soon found that he could march all around 
his enemies and strike them where he 
pleased. Napoleon, for the first time, 
grasped the importance of the relation 
between the ground and the battle, and 
developed this single idea until the French 
nation led the world in war. The electric 
telegraph was then unknown, but it is not 
too much to say that if there had been on 
duty with Napoleon's army at Waterloo a 
single trained company of signal troops, 
such as is now at the U. S. Signal School, 
the history of modern Europe would prob- 
ably have been different. 

The strictly modern art of war began 
with the campaign of Metz and Sedan in 
1870. The greatest of the fundamental 
ideas introduced in the art of war at that 
time concerned the mobilization and accu- 
rate assembling of great armies upon the 
field of battle. The army of the North 
German Confederation in the peace estab- 
lishment numbered 12,000 officers, 285,000 
men and 73,000 horses. The order to mobil- 
ize was telegraphed on July 16. Between 
July 23 and 25 the army was increased to 
22,000 officers, 932,000 men and 193,000 
horses, ready for war. The mobilization 
having been completed in eight to ten days, 
in eight to ten days more a force of nearly 
half a million of men and 1,200 guns, with 
first and second lines of trains complete, 
was assembled on a line of about ninety 



96 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



miles from Treves to Germersheim waiting 
for the order to advance. This result was 
effected by using railroad facilities to an 
extent unknown before. 

With the increased accuracy and range 
of military weapons and the great size of 
modern armies, a modern line of battle, as 
at Mukden, may extend a hundred miles or 
more, and involve a terrane with widely 
varied military features. 

The most fundamental truths are usually 
learned from the simplest experiments. Did 
not the falling of an apple give us the great 
law of gravitation? 

A modern battle may be likened in many 
respects to that of a foot ball game on a 
grand scale, in which the various elements 
of an army correspond to the individual 
players of the team. The end players cor- 
respond to the cavalry on the flanks; the 
center, guards and tackles to the infantry 
and artillery of the front line; and the 
half-backs and full-back, to the supports 
and reserve, ready to be thrown into the 
line at a weak point. Offense and defense 
depend upon which side has the ball. 

It is not, therefore, the efficiency of the 
separate arms of the service which meas- 
ures the strength of an army; it is their 
complete co-operation and mutual support; 
or more definitely, the strength of an army 
is measured not by the number of men it 
contains, but by the number of rifles and 
guns it can put into effective action at any 
one time. It is a significant fact to note in 
this connection, that during the entire Civil 
War there was never a battle in which there 
were more than 20,000 men engaged on 
either side at any one time. 

Electricity is a messenger which travels 
at a rate of over seven times around our 
earth in one single second of time, and is 
therefore practically instantaneous for any 
distance involved in war, whereas any other 
available messenger requires not only an 
appreciable time to travel one mile, but 
of necessity requires twice that time to 
accomplish -two miles. 

It must be evident then that the only 
way to attain that perfection of control of 
the different units of an army which suc- 
cess demands, is through electrical lines of 
information which follow all the movements 
of the elements of an army and enable the 
commander-in-chief to operate his entire 
force at all times, with the same precision 
he would attain were he directing the move- 
ments upon a map before him. In short, 
it must be possible for the commander-in- 
chief of an army, surrounded by his expert 
staff, to remain in his tent, and from the 



map before him play the game of war over 
a front of a hundred miles with the over- 
whelming force of perfect "team-work." 
He need not, and best should not, be dis- 
tracted from his great responsibilities by 
the excitement incident to proximity to the 
actual combat. The only hope of securing 
this is by the development and use of 
electrical lines of information by highly 
trained signal troops in number far ex- 
ceeding that authorized at present for any 
army in the world. This service must be 
insured at any cost, since it is the service 
that welds the whole army into one massive 
team, capable of being handled by one cen- 
tral intelligence to carry out a definite plan 
at a definite time. 

The professional task before the army at 
present is to apply "to the utmost the prin- 
ciple of combination of effort to a single 
purpose in the shortest possible time; in 
short, it is the attainment of the complete 
co-operation of the different arms. In gen- 
eral terms, the army which can effect this 
co-operation to the highest degree, other 
things being equal, will win in war. 

During the past few years we have 
devoted money, energy and skill to the 
efficient development of electrical means of 
fire-control for our coast artillery, and 
more recently to applying the same prin- 
ciples to field artillery, but the professional 
problem of the present is that of complete 
fire-control for an army in the field. 

Military strategy is impossible today, 
and always has been impossible, without 
the possession of information of your own 
situation, that of the enemy, or of both, 
which-is not possessed by your opponent. 

The United States now has the three 
arms of the service, each of which compares 
favorably with the same arm in any other 
army. We have efficient regulations for the 
training of each of these arms separately, 
but we have as yet reached no full appre- 
ciation of the results to be attained by the 
complete co-operation and support of the 
different arms pf the military service 
operated as a gigantic war-team. 



In an attempt to cross the Alps in a 
balloon, three distinguished Italian aero- 
nauts were carried over the Appenines and 
dropped into the Adriatic, several miles 
from shore. One clung to the ropes for four 
hours and was finally rescued, the others 
drowned. 

♦ • ♦ 

In France another tree must be planted 
for each one cut down for manufacturing 
purposes. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



97 



AN ARGENTINE WAGON 



This immense wagon, weighing 17 tons, 
is common in the Argentine Republic, for 
hauling grain to market, often 100 miles or 




For Hauling Grain to- Market 

more. The American Thresherman says: 
"The rear wheels are 11 ft. high and 20 
horses are required to haul this great vehi- 
cle and its load of sacks of grain." 
— . ♦ • ♦ — 

COBALT TO MAKE AUTOS CHEAP 



Recent Discoveries of Vast Veins of the Mineral in 
the United States 



Thomas A. Edispn predicts cheap electric 
automobiles in the near future, as a result 
of his discoveries of cobalt, a mineral neces- 
sary in making storage batteries for power 
purposes. 

When at Asheville, N. C, recently, Mr. 
Edison stated: "By the use of cobalt I will 
reduce the weight of storage batteries in 
automobiles 50 per cent and the cost of 
traffic in cities 55 per cent. 

"There is a streak of cobalt running from 
a point just east of Nashville, Tenn., into 
this state, and I must add that some of the 
richest beds I have found have been in 
North Carolina. My discovery means a 
revolution in the electrical world. 

"It can be seen very readily that more 
automobiles and electrical vehicles will be 
built because the cost will be placed within 
the reach of many people who cannot afford 
to own them now. 

"The electric vehicles have been under a 
great handicap because of the very heavy 
storage batteries we were forced to put in 
them, and also on account of their high 
price. When I can equip an automobile pro- 
pelled by the cobalt system the weight will 
be one-half, thereby giving the new machine 
an enviable advantage over the ones now 
in use, and when the price is reduced so as 



to place them within the reach of everybody 
it means that the horse is a thing of the 
past. 

"I have left a force of men in four coun- 
ties in this state where I found the mineral, 
and they will make thorough investigations 
as to the quantity to be found. They will 
report to me, and I may return here later 
in the summer and further investigate my 
discoveries. I am fully confident that what 
I have found here will enable me to start 
out on the work of new vehicles propelled 
by cobalt batteries. Most of the cobalt now 
known to the scientists of the world is 
found in France and Australia, and Amer- 
ican industries are hampered because of the 
distance it is from the manufactories." 
♦ » ♦ 

SUBMARINE DIVERS UNDER= 
GROUND 



An unusual use of divers was recently 
made in saving Winchester Cathedral, Eng- 
land. During repairs to the foundations a 
large water main burst, filling the excava- 




Diver Working Under Church 

tion and crypt. For some days it was 
feared the noble structure would collapse, 
but divers were sent down, the rush of 
waters stopped, and the building saved. 



98 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



COMPRESSED AIR PUMPING PLANT 



While compressed air has been used for 
raising water for many years, the plant at 
Desplaines, 111., offers some new features 
which were made necessary by local condi- 
tions, and a departure from general prac- 
tice, necessary to insure 
against any interruption 
to its operation through- 
out the entire year. 

The general arrange- 
ment of power house, 
pumps and pipes is shown 
in Pig. 1. The air from 
the compressor is conduct- 
ed to the pneumatic 
pumps, where it enters a 
small pipe inside the 
large vertical pipe, and is 
carried nearly to the bot- 
tom of the well. As the 
air is released it mixes 
with the water and rises 
in the pipes. At the top 
the air is released and 
passes out of the vents, 
while the water drops in 
the short vertical pipes, and passes to the 
reservoir. 

It has been the usual practice to use 



auxiliary reservoirs at the top of each pump, 
as shown in Fig. 2, but it is evident that 
this could not be done in the plant under 
consideration, as the river at high water 
would overflow the small reservoirs. An- 
other advantage of the new type over the 
auxiliary reservoirs is that the wells are 




Peseriso/r' 
/ -i — > Wafer p/pe' 




Fig. 1 



tre/foc 




Compressed Air Pumping Plant 

closed against interference by the public 
and are practically tamper-proof, prevent- 
ing the introduction of foreign substance. 



A NORTHERN NIGERIA STEAMER 



Vessels for use in the tropics are built 
to conform with the peculiar conditions. 
Nearly all are of the shallow-draught type 
and quite small. Many of those in use on 



Lake Victoria, when re-erected, were found 
to be 18 in. over draught, or 150 tons heavy, 
says the Shipping World, London. 

The "Karonga" is a stern-wheel steamer 
used in Northern Nigeria. Her dimensions 
are 75 ft. by 18 ft. by 3 ft. 6 in. by 16 in. 




Shallow Draught Nigeria Steamer 



the inland lakes are built in England or the 
governing country and shipped in pieces, 
untried until they reach the waters in 
which they are to ply. Some very bad 
blunders have resulted from this practice; 
two vessels for freight and cargo service on 



draught; indicated horsepower, 135; speed, 
9% miles. 

♦ • ♦ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



99 




MOTOR SWIMMING WITH FOOT AND GAS ENGINE 

POWER 



What with automobiles and motor boats to 
ride in, motor skates to walk on, and a 
screw propeller to push a swimmer through 
the water, it begins to look as though the 
class in physical culture had little to do but 
enjoy itself, while a gasoline engine does 
the work. Of all the varied applications of 
the gas motor the swimming outfit is the 
most unique. Its utility would seem quite 
doubtful, but as a curiosity or amusement 
it is worth knowing. 

M. Constantini, of Paris, who invented 
the motor skate, has brought out a motor 
swimming device which, the Scientific 
American says, consists of "a waterproof 
casing containing a gasoline motor which 
drives a screw.. The machine is strapped to 
the swimmer's back and propels him through 
the water" at a rate faster than he would 




swim, and, of course, without physical exer- 
tion. Air bags are used to float the ma- 
chinery. 

An American has also invented a swim- 
ming machine, but in his case the swimmer 
must furnish the motive power himself. 
This device is capable of considerable speed 
with comparatively small effort. The oper- 
ator stretches at full length upon a float 
which is pointed at the forward end. The 
propeller is driven by gearing driven by 
means of foot pedals similar to the pedals 
of a bicycle. Another float over the machin- 
ery serves to support it in the water. This 
arrangement permits the swimmer to keep 
his head out of water and to undertake long 
distances. When tired one has simply to 
cease working the pedals until rested. 

The machine is 'constructed of nickeled 
copper, aluminum and bronze metals, and is 
from 5 ft. to 6 ft. 6 in. long. The swimmer 
is carried forward 3 ft. for each revolution 
of the pedal shaft. The gear is 6 to 1. The 
weight of the machine out of water is only 
25 lb. It is the invention of a physician, 
who states any one can learn to use it in a 
few minutes. 

» • ♦ 

INTERNATIONAL BALLOON RACE 



Qasoline Motor Outfit 



The international balloon race occurred 
October 1, with 16 entries, and was won by 
an American, Lieut. Frank P. Lahm, after 
a flight of 415 miles from Paris to a land- 
ing 50 miles north of Hull, England. Seven 
of the contestants failed to cross the chan- 
nel and made landings in France. Santos 
Dumont was one of these, being obliged to 
descend for surgical treatment of his arm, 
which was badly torn. Lieut. Lahm, who 
belongs to the Sixth cavalry, U. S. A., 
started to cross the English channel at 11 
p. m. and at 3 a. m. was over England. 



LOFC. 



100 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




FEEDING AN OCEAN GREYHOUND.— The supplies for a single trip include: Coal, 5,000 
tons; beef, 13,000 lb.; mutton, 2,200 lb.; lamb, 1,200 lb.; ham, 600 lb.; pork, 900 lb.; veal, 1,200 lb.; 
beer, 375 bbl.,and 3,000 bottles; milk, 2,200 qt.; ice cream, 300 qt.; ice, 40 tons; butter, 1,300 lb.; 
cereals, 600 lb.; eggs, 1,700 doz.; fowls, 6,000; potatoes, 175 bbl; tongue, 400 lb.; vegetables, 75 bbl.; 
lettuce, 200 doz.; flour, 900 bbl,; yeast, 350 lb.; fresh fruit, 8,500 lb.; oysters, 40 bbl.; fish, 1,700 lb. 




WELLMAN AIRSHIP EXPEDITION 

Preparations Now Being Completed at Dane's Island 



Emergency Uali/e 




far/-/ /-/or? 
D/is/ci/ng Bat/oo. 
jrom Batto/?et 



| Brag Anchor | Front Screw 
I te^Ft. Oia. 

Engine fioom 



ffudder 



5 test Boat 



. Rear Screw f-4i Ft. D/'a. 

I a 

L/ir/ng & 5ieep/'n$ ficom 



General View of Wellman Airship 



The members of the Wellman airship ex- 
pedition to the North Pole are now busily 
engaged in the final preparations at Dane's 
Island. This island is in the Arctic ocean 
about 600 miles northwest of Cape North, 
Lapland, and the same distance from the 
North Pole. Here, hundreds of miles from 
human habitation, a huge hall 200 ft. long, 
75 ft. broad and 85 ft. high has been erected. 
The building has a canvas cover and seems 
too frail a structure to cope with the ex- 
treme rigors of the clime, but if its pres- 
ence there seems anomalous even more so 
appears an evidence of man's highest scien- 
tific development — a wireless telegraph sta- 
tion. From this same spot a few years ago 



courageous Andre, with little save a mar- 
velous prescience of things to come to back 
him, set out on his ill-fated balloon voyage 
to the Pole — never to return; and fitting, in- 
deed, it is that this spot should have been 
chosen as the base of the Wellman-Record- 
Herald Expedition to the Pole — this time 
with a steerable airship thoroughly tested 
before the final dash in the atmosphere 
through which it must sail, and provided 
with all the accoutrements of modern times 
that will tend to make the project a suc- 
cess. 

The huge hall was shipped in sections 
from Tromso, Norway, on June 5 of the 
present year. Arrived at its destination the 



101 



102 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



framework was bolted together and over it 
stretched the canvas skin; in this building 
the big envelope will be inflated. The plan 
of procedure of the expedition is best told 
in the words of Mr. Wellman himself, who 
in an interview with the editor of the Illus- 
trated London News, said: 

"The airship itself will leave Tromso on 
June 25. It is a very Gargantua of air- 
ships, and requires 224,000 cubic feet of 
hydrogen, to make which we take 100 tons 



The generator is in the engine-room, belted 
on to the motors, and the aerial or wire is 
unrolled and suspended hanging down per- 
haps fifty yards when we wish to send a 
message. 

"We expect the period of the whole trip by 
airship to be under twelve days, but if 
necessary it can be kept in the air as long 
as twenty days, because the loss of ascen- 
sional force should not be more than 200 
lb. per day, through leakage of gas, while the 




Details of Machinery and Cabin 



of sulphuric acid and 65 tons of iron shav- 
ings, all carefully selected and cleaned. 
Alexander Liwentaal, the experienced en- 
gineer, who was associated with Count Zep- 
pelin, and who is on leave from the Ad- 
miralty, will superintend the inflation, and 
is now constructing the gas-apparatus. The 
month of July will be spent in inflation and 
trials, and if all goes well we shall start for 
the Pole this year; but we are determined 
not to start till we are satisfied of the per- 
fect efficiency of all our apparatus. The 
expedition is designed for a three years' 
campaign. If we do not succeed the first 
year, we shall return and reconstruct the air- 
ship for a second year; and if we don't win 
in the second year and still live, we shall 
try again the third year. 

"If we succeed in reaching the Pole, it 
makes relatively small difference to us what 
course we take on our return, as we have 
full data with us as to all land round the 
circle. 

"At Hammerfest, Norway, in touch with 
the Atlantic cable, will be our wireless sta- 
tion No. 1. Station No. 2 will be at the 
expedition headquarters on Dane's Island, 
and station No. 3 will be on the airship. 



load will be lightening all the time by the 
consumption of gasoline in the motors, not 
counting provisions eaten, and so forth. 
The airship, which Monsieur Godard has 
been making for me, is constructed to carry 
the car of steel, motors totaling 80 hp., 
motor-sledges, five men, food for seventy- 
five days, instruments, tools, repair-ma- 
terials, lubricating oils, and 5,500 lbs. of 
gasoline. The pressure of the gas varies in 
the different "zones," and the envelope is 
made in different degrees of tensile strength 
to correspond, but is everywhere constructed 
to stand a strain six times the maximum 
pressure possible. 

"It is vitally important that the rigidity 
and integrity of the form of the balloon 
should be constantly maintained. No means 
has as yet been found of making, with 
fabrics, an absolutely gas-tight reservoir, 
but the number of rubber coatings in the 
envelope of our balloon will reduce the es- 
cape to a minimum. Cold, however, con- 
tracts the gas, and on all accounts it is 
necessary to arrange for strict preservation 
of full pressure. This is done by a separate 
5-hp. motor carried to compress air and 
throw it up into the ballonet — the lower 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



103 



The Motor Sledge _ the runnsrs ahp absolutelv FtexisLe sxe 

ABC BUILT ON AN. ANKLE JOINT , ANO GIV£ IN ANV pISeCTION IH COINS 

Over uneven suRi-'aces . Tneir A«e ligi-it eNoucri for two' men To lift 
JhoSse power 





Sleighs for Use in August 



part of the balloon, separated interiorly by 
a thin envelope, through which gas perco- 
lates, maintaining the pressure. The car 
is a strong frame of steel tubing, and the 
central section, comprising engine-room and 
living-room, is enclosed by walls and roof 
of fireproof fabric. 

"After elaborate studies of Arctic winds 
I decided to construct my screws and mo- 
tors, not for high speed against extreme 
winds, but for moderate speed against about 
eleven-twelfths of all the winds we should 
expect. We carry two motors and two pro- 
pellers, and reserve parts for the larger 
screw. With unfavorable winds of high ve- 
locity we shall stop the motors and throw 
out upon the ice over which we are sailing 
a drag-anchor or 'retarder,' the action of 
which will largely neutralize the force of 
an adverse wind in taking us out of our 
course. The full value of favorable winds 
is on the credit side of our log, while only 
a part of the value of the unfavorable 
winds has to be put on the debit side. At 
first I had thought to anchor firmly to the 
ice by grappling-irons and steel cables, but 
condemned this because of the enormous in- 
crease of strength that would have been 
demanded in every part of the tackle to 
ride out a storm firmly tethered to the 
ground. With our retarder against a wind 
of ten or twelve miles per hour we shall 
remain approximately stationary in the air, 
perhaps drifting half a mile or a mile an 
hour. Should the wind rise to thirty miles 
per hour against us, the driftage should be 
about eighteen miles per hour, but in no 
case would we incur risks of breakage of our 
apparatus, as without firm anchorage the 
maximum strain provided for can never be 
exceeded. 

"One of the chief problems is how to 
maintain the vertical equilibrium of the 
airship — avoidance of pitching up and 
down, and of Deing overweighted by accu- 
mulations of snow, frost, or moisture. We 



want to keep our airship at a fairly even 
sailing-height of from two to four hundred 
feet above the ice, and we are hoping to 
do this by a system of counterbalancing 
weights in the employment of a guide-rope 
'equilebreur." The usual guide-rope is 
simply a line of cordage or metal trailing 
over the ground. When the balloon rises, 
more of the weight of the rope is lifted into 
the air and put upon the apparatus, check- 
ing the upward movement, and when it 
descends weight is removed, and the descent 
is checked. A variation of this principle is 
what we are employing. In our guide-rope 
and its accessories there will be a total of 
about 1,200 lbs. in weight, and it is con- 
structed to operate equally well on water 
or on ice, for we shall probably have a belt 
of open water in July and August between 
our headquarters and the pack-ice covering 
the Arctic ocean to the northward. At the 
lower end of our equilebreur we have four 
steel cylinders, ten or fifteen feet apart, 
the steel cable passing through the center 
of each. Outside each has six wooden run- 
ners attached, and they are filled with 
gasoline as a reserve for the motors. They 
are buoyant and cannot sink. The two 
cables of the retarder and the guide-rope 
equilebreur are carried in the steel boat 
which is slung beneath the car. It is the 
lightest and strongest boat ever built. It 
is 16% ft. long, carries over a ton at proper 
loading, and is non-capsizable and non- 
sinkable. Upon the deck of the car are 
two motor-sledges." 



r.-.~"p--j- i ' | v'— ; '-- ! -' : -- T ...'- o:sij 


NONC^PSCABLT. - KON Sit 


'KApt.ti:- 


— al 


^^p*m 


pT^PP^^pJP?; 








r- ~ \ 














™^^™*^^B 








|HL ;'9fllHEfattuiata 


MrWlMliliifitliMM^lte 


g&y 







104 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



SIGNAL LIGHT THAT BURNS IN 
WATER 



WALLS OF WATER FOR FIRE PRO= 
TECTION 



A marine torch, or signal light, that 
bursts into a brilliant flame the instant it 
touches water, is a recent invention. These 




Light Attached to a Life Buoy 

signal lights can be used in many ways. 
One method is to attach one to a life buoy; 
the moment the life preserver strikes the 
water the light gives out a bright flame, 
showing its location not only to the person 
overboard, but marking the spot for the 
crew, who put back in a small boat. As the 
average passenger steamer cannot be stopped 
in much less than a mile when under full 
headway, the importance of the light in find- 
ing the spot is evident. The signal burns 
with 300 candlepower for a full hour. These 
lights are already in use in the American 
navy. 

Another type is the projectile which is 
fired from a gun and will carry as far as an 
ordinary shell will go. These lights can be 



Among the many unusual methods for 
preventing a repetition of the San Fran- 
cisco conflagration which have been sub- 
mitted to the reconstruction committee of 
that city is the following: 

The plan contemplates the erection every 
200 ft. in the business district of stand- 
pipes connected to big water mains, which 
run to a high pressure pumping station. 
These standpipes are telescopic and in three 
lengths of 34 ft. each, each 10 in., 8 in. and 
6 in. diameter respectively, tapering toward 
the top. A h^nd valve at the base admits 
the water to the standpipe which immedi- 
ately extends to its full height of 100 ft. 
At the top are several nozzles which direct 
the water in all directions. A pressure of 
100 lbs. at the top is contemplated, which 
would throw water 150 ft. into the air and 
cover a base radius of 250 ft. The water 
from one stand would thus meet the water 
from the nearest other stands. The fire 
department has the subject under consid- 
eration. 



NEW ELECTRIC LAMP 



Dr. Hans Kuzel, Vienna, claims to have 
discovered a new method of making the fila- 
ment for incandescent electric lamps, which 
will burn for 3,500 hours, and give a strong 
light to the end. The filament is said to be 
made from common and cheap metals and 
metaloids colloids in a plastic mass which 
can be handled like clay and which when 
dry becomes hard as stone. Out of this 
mass very thin wire threads are formed. 



GLASS FLOORS FOR SAFETY 



Glass floors around electrical switchboards 
are recommended for safety by an English 
expert. Several fatal accidents have oc- 
curred on account of the operator coming in 
contact with exposed parts charged with 
current while standing on the iron or wood 




Light for Firing from a Gun 



set to burn as they leave the gun, or not 
until they strike the water, where they will 
float and burn from one to two hours. 



grating commonly used in the platform 
Many English plants are now putting in the 
glass floors. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



105 



U. S. WILL BUILD FIRST DERELICT CURIOUS SPIRAL BRIDGE OVER MIS= 
DESTROYER SISSIPPI RIVER 



The greatest danger that attends naviga- 
tion on the high seas is from derelicts. 
These submerged hulks, weighing thousands 
of tons often, are scarcely discernible by 
day, while at night it is practically impos- 
sible to pick them up even with a powerful 
searchlight. 

For years navigators have urged upon 
the leading maritime nations to undertake . 



One of the most remarkable bridges to be 
found anywhere'across the Mississippi river 
is at Hastings, Minn. In order to avoid the 
expense of operating a draw the bridge was 
built with a clearance which permits the 
steamboats to pass below. The approach 
from the east shore was then constructed in 
the form of a spiral to avoid the long drive 
which otherwise would have been necessary. 




Photo by H. W. CrOBby 



Steamboats Can Pass Under This Mississippi Bridge 



the destruction of these wrecks, but it has 
remained for this country to take any ac- 
tion. A derelict destroyer is now being 
built at a cost of $250,000, which will be 
in charge of the Revenue Cutter service. 
With wireless telegraph to report a wreck, 
it will now be possible to locate and destroy 
it. Dynamite will be used to blow the old 
hulls to fragments, a specially trained crew 
of dynamite experts being detailed for this 
work. Other countries will doubtless now 
take similar action. Seamen declare that 
the derelict is the explanation of many of 
the mysterious disappearances of ships 
which have never been heard from after 
leaving port. 



UNDER SEA COAL STORAGE 



In the trop- 
ical coaling stations the deterioration of 
coal stored in the open air is very great, 
as the heat exhausts the coal. Tests have 
now been made of the submerged coal, and 
indicate that it may be preserved under 
water for a great length of time; perhaps 
indefinitely. The chief difficulty is that it 
must first be dried before burning, or even 
loading into ships, as the moisture produces 
spontaneous combustion. Drying large quan< 
tities in the open air is not feasible. 



106 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



PORTABLE ELECTRIC WATER 
STERILIZER 



SELLING A HOT STOVE 



Egg, JL 





The sterilization of water by means of 
ozone generated by high-tension electrical 
discharges was described in our August, 
1905, number. A German company has em- 
bodied the principle in several forms of ap- 
paratus — most 
notable, the 
portable outfit 
for supplying 
armies on the 
field with ster- 
ilized drinking 
water. Two of 
these outfits 
were used by the Russians in Manchuria. 
The apparatus is mounted on two wag- 
ons, says the Electrical Review, London, 
one carrying all the moving machinery and 
the other the sterilizing outfit. The ma- 
chinery wagon contains a gasoline motor, 
such as is used in automobile propulsion; 
an alternator with small exciter-dynamo on 
the same shaft, supplying low-tension cur- 
rent to the transformer; a small centrifu- 
gal pump, driven by belting from the dy- 
namo shaft, by which the unsterilized water 
is pumped up to the tower through coarse 
filters; a small blower or fan which gently 
impels the air through a calcium chloride 
filter (on the machinery wagon) and thence 
through the ozonizers to the tower, which it 
enters at the base. 

♦ • ♦ 

The " 'runo-walko-rideo-driveo universal 
telephone,' or words to that effect," is what 
the Electrical Review calls the extraordi- 
nary device which eastern inventors claim 
to have made. It is a telephone instrument 
which enables any person when riding, 
walking or moving about in any way what- 
ever, to put himself in communication with 
any telephone system. 

-♦ « ♦ 

EARTHQUAKE WRECKED STEAM= 
BOAT 



A hardware man has adopted a new 
method of selling cook stoves. Once each 
month he offers a prize for the best dish 
cooked at his establishment, and the ladies 
bring dough and all kinds of uncooked food 
to his store, where he has a battery of ranges 
fired up. He attends to the cooking him- 
self and in the demonstration actually sells 
the heated stoves. 



OYSTER PLANTING IN PACIFIC 



The native oyster found on our Pacific 
coast is extremely small — about one-fourth 
the size of an Atlantic oyster. Many car- 
loads of eastern oysters have been shipped 
and planted in Puget sound and along the 
California coast. Some of the beds are 
just commencing to produce, one of them 
affording 700 sacks per day the past winter. 
The tongers, who gather the -oysters, earn 
from $6 to $12 per day. 

SOME QUEER CAUSES OF FIRE 



Queer causes of fires frequently come to 
light, some of which were intended to be 
forever hidden. A merchant who needed 
his insurance money badly removed the 
metal ceiling protector over a lighted gas 
jet, but alas! was observed in the act from 
a neighboring window. Another man turned 
on the gas in a cellar full of inflammable 
material and set a lighted candle on the 
floor, in the expectation that as the gas got 
denser it would sink till it reached the 
candle. He, too, was frustrated. A heavy 
wagon passing broke the underground gas 
main, stopping the supply, and someone 
visiting the cellar by chance discovered the 
candle and the open taps. Dry birds' nests 
in a church tower helped in another case. 
The bell bearings needed oiling and when 
the bell was rung the sparks produced set 
the nests on fire. 



The sternwheel steamer "Juli- 
ette," that plies daily along 
the Sacramento river, had 
just made fast to her dock in 
Sacramento when the great 
shock occurred. So violent were 
the vibrations that the cabins 
and upper works came tumbling 
down. " The passengers and 
most of the crew had gone 
ashore, and of those remaining 
on the boat none were killed. 




The Wrecked Vessel 






ENCYCLOPEDIA 



107 



DESTRUCTION OF THE FERRIS WHEEL 




Rg. i 



Fig. 2— Last of the Ferris Wheel 



The great Ferris wheel, once the mechan- 
ical wonder of the world, was purposely- 
wrecked with 200 lbs. of dynamite at St. 
Louis on May 11. The inventor, for whom 
it was named, built it in 1893 at Pittsburg 
at a cost of $300,000 as a mechanical amuse- 
ment device for the Chicago World's Fair, 
and as a rival of the Eiffel tower. The 
wheel was 264 feet in diameter, and its steel 
shaft was the largest ever forged: There 
were 4,600 tons of metal in the structure. 
After earning $750,000 it was taken down at 
the close of the exposition and hauled in 
wagons 10 miles across the city at a cost 
of $40,000 and set up in an amusement park. 
It was again taken down in 1903 and shipped 
to the St. Louis World's Fair. The wreck- 
ing company decided there was most money 
in wrecking it for scrap valued at $8,000, 
and fired 100 lbs. of dynamite under it, on 
the first charge. The wheel did not fall, 
but leaned to one side as shown in Fig. 1. 

When the second charge was fired later in 
the day, the huge monster did not fall on 
its side as predicted, but first seemed to 
quiver, then to totter, and then gradually 
to collapse, the action increasing until the 
great sections were bending and twisting 
like wire. Finally there came the final 
crash which covered the foundations with a 
tangled heap of iron and steel. The wheel 
was designed on the principle of a bicycle 
wheel with a double rim of bridge construc- 
tion. The shaft weighing 74 tons, which 
will be seen at the center in Fig. 2, was 
driven 20 ft. into the ground. 



BUFFET FOR AUTOMOBILES 



The luxuries of automobiling are con- 
stantly being increased. The latest addition 
is the portable buffet, the purpose and ar- 
rangements of which are fully shown in the 




Portable Buffet 

illustration. One packing of ice will last 
all day. The box is 21 in. long, 15 in. high, 
and 10 in. wide; a 2-candlepower electric 
lamp with battery is a part of the outfit, 
which can be fastened to the running board. 
» • ♦ 

A $10,000,000 company has been organized 
to develop a water power of 40,000 horse- 
power for supplying electricity to Kyoto. 



108 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



TALL STACK BUILT WITHOUT 
SCAFFOLD 



A great steel tunnel 
ering 242 ft. above the 
enough for a good- 
sized locomotive to 
pass through, has 
recently been com- 
pleted in Detroit. 

It is the steel 
smokestack of a 
heating company, 
and is 14 ft. in 
diameter, and 29 ft. 
at the top. The stack 
was erected without 
the use of any out- 
side scaffolding, and 
the men working on 
the inside could not 
be seen by people in 
the street below. 
Steadily the struc- 
ture grew, a few 
feet each day, as 
piece after piece of 
the great steel 
sheets were hoisted 
up and riveted in 
place. It seemed to 
grow by magic, and 
not until the great 
flaring bell at the 
top was reached was 
a workman visible. 
The picture shows a 
man, suspended 
from a rope putting 
on the finishing 
touches at the top. 

In the work 27,000. 
rivets were used; 
driven tight by 
pneumatic hammers. 
The stack will be 
lined inside, all the 
way, with firebrick, 
and is estimated to 
have a life of from 
30 to 40 years. "We 
are indebted to the 
Detroit News for the 
photograph, which 
was taken from the 
sixth story of the 
building, or 80 ft. 
above the ground. 
The derrick seen in 
the engraving is 



set on 
street, 



end, tow- 
and large 



being used in the erection of the building. 
Without the brick lining inside engineers 
state the stack would last only a few years, 
on account of the acids in the smoke eating 
into the steel. 

♦ » ♦ — 

RESTORES BURNED RECORDS 



Remarkable Success Attends Invention of California 
Professors 



Two professors of the University of Cali- 
fornia have discovered a chemical process 
by which they are able to restore burned 
documents such as notes, ledgers, and in- 
surance policies. Documents which are no 
longer decipherable, and which crumble into 
ashes in ordinary hands, are by this new 
process restored sufficiently to enable a per- 
fect copy being made. The restoration is 
made one leaf or sheet at a time and the 
inventors are working night and day in the 
transcript of valuable papers destroyed in 
the San Francisco fire. The documents thus 
restored are not durable, but last long 
enough to have a copy made. The courts 
are expected to recognize these transcripts 
as legal. The chemical formula which works 
this wonder is a carefully guarded secret. 



BIG LEHR FOR TEMPERING GLASS 



A lehr is a huge heated receptacle, hun- 
dreds of feet long and equipped with trav- 
eling platforms, used in the tempering of 
plate glass. At the end where the glass en- 
ters the heat is intense, the temperature de- 
creasing gradually until at the. exit it is 
cold. 

The largest lehr in the United States was 
recently installed at Alexandria, Ind. It is 
750 ft. long, with walls 2 ft. thick, and will 
admit sheets of glass 12x19 ft. in size. It 
takes 30 days for a sheet of glass to pass 
through. Several motors — a 10-hp., two 7%- 
hp. and two 2-hp. — are used to operate the 
traveling platforms. The cost was $15,000. 



ILLUMINATE BOTTOM OF LAKE 



Submarine cables with several hundred 
electric lights attached were laid on the 
bottom of Union Lake, near Millville, N. J., 
in the effort to discover the body of a boy 
who was drowned. Current was obtained 
from the trolley line which runs to the lake, 
and the cables with lamps every few feet 
were dragged along the bottom. The plan 
was successful. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



109 



WHAT IS A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE ? 



LANDING A BIG NAVAL GUN 



The railroad definition of an engine has 
for years been a "locomotive propelled by 
steam." The American Railway Association, 
which establishes the definition of railroad 
terms, has enlarged the scope of "engine" 
and it now means "a locomotive propelled 
by any form of energy," which includes, of 
course, electric, gasoline and other motors. 



The landing of a 4.7 naval gun was a 
feature of a war course demonstration at 
Whale Island recently, says the Shipping 
World, London. The gun mounted on its 
carriage was slung between two big boats 
and these were towed to shore by launches. 
The launches moved off when near shore, 
the lashings were cut and the gun dragged 




The Gun was Slung Between Two Big Boats 



SAND BEST FOR GASOLINE FIRES 



The best way to put out a gasoline fire 
is to use sand. Experiments were made 
by the London fire department with burn- 
ing shavings which had been soaked in gas- 
oline. The sand extinguished the fire in 
45 seconds; water in 4 minutes, and chem- 
ical extinguishers had little effect. If you 
have conditions where a gasoline fire is 
possible, better keep a pail or two of dry 
sand handy. It is inexpensive, never spoils 
and will do the business. 



up the high hills. The difficult piece of 
work was admirably executed and won much 
praise from spectators. 

♦ • ♦ 

SPECIAL FLAT CAR 



Several flat cars of unusual design have 
been built specially for transporting the 
parts of big electric generators. These cars 
are 32 ft. long and contain a "well," there 
being no center sills. The principle of 
bridge construction has been used. The car 
has a capacity of 125,000 lbs., and comes 
down very close to the rails. 




Flat Cars for Transporting Parts of Electric Generators 



110 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



CLEANING SAN FRANCISCO OF VAST 

DEBRIS 



To Remove the 10,000,000 Cubic Yards with Teams Will Take 5 Years==Plan to Do It 

In 15 Months 



Editor's Note. — According to careful estimates, the mass of brick and other debris that will 
have to be removed from the burned business district of San Francisco to permit the rebuilding 
of the city aggregates something between 10,000,000 and 11,000,000 cubic yards. Mr. Loss declares 
that the removal of this vast amount of refuse material would require five years if all the work 
had to be done with teams alone. According to a system he has evolved, however, he hopes to 
see the ruins cleared up within from 12 to 15 months by means of cableways, bunkers and steam 
cars. One yard is an ordinary load of dirt for a team. 



3 



By C. E. Loss 



The situation is one that presents a case 
of great urgency, but it is a matter that 
cannot be unduly rushed. I have evolved 
a system for handling all, or more, of the 
11,000,000 cubic yards of debris from the 
business district, and it is the only one 
feasible scheme that can be formulated. I 
propose to handle all this stupendous mass 
by means of bunkers and cable ways. I 




have already secured permits for the erec- 
tion of bunkers, and have ordered material 
and machinery which will be erected at the 
earliest possible date. 

Briefly, our system is this: We shall 
erect bunkers at various convenient places 
throughout the burned district. The debris 
will be conveyed to these bunkers by cable 
ways, and from the bunkers will be dumped 
into railroad cars. As is well known, per- 
mits for the laying of railroad tracks 
throughout the burned district have been 
already granted to the transportation com- 
panies, and the work of laying temporary 
tracks to handle this business is now being 
rushed. The railroads are the only insti- 
tutions that can handle this business. 



One of the Hoisting Plants at Son Francisco 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



111 



By teams alone, it would take five years 
at least; that would be utterly out of the 
question. To handle this wilderness of de- 
bris in trainloads is the only feasible 
method. We shall be able to load car after 
car from our bunkers at a minimum of cost 
and with the least possible expenditure of 
time and the trains will then convey the 
refuse material to the dumping grounds 
outside of the city, economically and expe- 
ditiously. Before we get through we shall 
probably have 100 bunkers in full operation 
in different sections of the city. 

In view of the fact that there will prob- 
ably be large quantities of brick and other 
material that can be again used for build- 
ing purposes, the insurance companies in 
adjusting their losses may claim all this 
salvage. This is a matter, however, that can 
probably be amicably adjusted. What the 
railroads will charge for removing the de- 
bris has, as yet, not been definitely decided. 
They should, and probably will, handle the 
business as they do customarily, by merely 
charging a switching rate of $2.50 a car. 

A large force of men and a great many 
teams will be employed in this work, but 
the teams will not attempt to haul the ma- 
terial out of the city, or for long distances. 
The teams will haul the debris to piles from 
which it can be conveyed by cable ways to 
the bunkers. Under this arrangement many 
contractors will be able to take a hand in 
the work. 

I might say, in this connection, that much 
of the brick removed from the burned dis- 
trict can be cleaned and made serviceable 
for building operations. Estimates as to the 
proportion of brick that can be cleaned and 
used differ somewhat, ranging from 50 to 70 
per cent. We will have a process, however, 
for cleaning all good bricks by which the 
work can be done by machinery for $2 a 
thousand. All good bricks will thus be 
saved and reused. 

♦ « ♦ 

TO PLACER MINE SAN FRANCISCO 



ELEVATORS THAT SIDE=STEP 



Boston Tunnel Elevators Most Unique in the World 



One of the romantic projects that have 
sprung up since the fire is that of washing 
the debris to recover the gold, silver and 
precious stones. Values running into hun- 
dreds of thousands, if not million'', of dol- 
lars, lie buried in the rubbish. The plan is 
to erect plants in several locations and run 
the debris througn on the principle of 
washing coal. 

. ♦— ~» ■ . 

Moving grain elevators from one town to 
another is now frequently done. 



There are four elevators in Boston which 
do not go straight up and down, but travel 
6 ft. horizontally during their ascent. The 
remarkable thing about them is that the 
elevator floor remains level all the time. 

These elevators are installed at the three- 
story Atlantic Chambers station of the East 
Boston tunnel. At this point there are 




Zig=zag Elevators 

three levels where passengers go and come. 
The lower is where the tunnel cars are 
taken, the second is at the street level 
where the surface cars run, and the third, 
56 ft. above the first, the platform of the 
elevated road. In taking the elevated or 
tunnel cars, or in transferring from any 
one of the three lines to either of the 
others the elevators are used. There are 



112 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



two elevators on each side of the tracks, all 
operated by electricity, and are the only 
ones in the world which do not go straight 
up and down and still maintain a perfectly 
level floor in their passage through a curved 
tube. In other words, these elevators travel 
on an incline or zig-zag plane. Had the 
elevators gone straight up and down, it 
would have been necessary, of course, to 
build two station platforms at the street 
level, or else to have created in the street 
a building of prohibitive size with a wait- 
ing room beyond all requirements of the 
traffic. 

The problem which had to be faced in the 
curved shaft was somewhat similar to that 
in the Eiffel tower, though in reality much 
more difficult. In the big Paris monument 
the lifts approach each other gradually to- 
ward the top of the tower. But the slant 
at no one place in the tower is so consid- 
erable as in the Atlantic Chambers, and 
the fact that the floor of the elevator in the 
tower is a little off the horizontal as the 
car goes up does not seriously discommode 
the passengers. In the Atlantic Chambers 
the angle is such that it was absolutely 
necessary to contrive a means by which the 
elevators going up and down inclining shafts 
a distance of 56 ft. and at the same time 
traveling 6 ft. in a horizontal direction 
should have level floors in their ascent and 
descent. Where they start at the bottom 
on the tunnel level they are 24 ft. apart. 
"When they reach the street floor they are 
within twelve feet of each other. Although 
they move on inclined shafts, they are kept 
on an absolute level by the use of curved 
guides. The passenger hardly realizes that 
he is traveling in anything but a vertical 
direction, unless he looks through the iron 
lattice work of the elevator and notes that 
the lines of the shaft are all awry, and that 
the car started tilted at an angle of nearly 
30 degrees. He starts from a platform 12 
ft. across, separating the cages, and lands 
at gateways less than a yard apart. The 
cars have a maximum speed of 250 ft. per 
minute, each car having a platform area 
of about 60 sq. ft., and a capacity of from 40 
to 50 passengers. 



STEEL ARMORED HOTEL 



Building in 'Frisco to Resist Tremblors and Fire 



THE BI GGEST C ARPET 

The biggest carpet in the world covers the 
floor of the London Olympia, and although 
it measures 63,000 sq. ft. it was only four 
months in making. It required 37 vans — a 
'procession a mile long — to take it from the 
factory to the Olympia. Cut up, the carpet 
wouid cover 437 floors 4 yds. square. 



San Francisco will soon have one of the 
most unique buildings in the world; it is a 
hotel, and on account of its extremely 
slender shape has been christened the 
"Toothpick." The steel framework had 
been nearly completed at the time of the 
fire, and the original plan was to encase it 
in stone and brick. Now the skeleton, 
which was uninjured, will be finished, but 
instead of outer walls of stone, great plates 
of boiler iron will be riveted on in the 




The Building as it was Before Quake and a 
Section Plated 

same manner as the armor of a battleship. 
The building will cost $750,000 and be fire 
and earthquake proof. 

This construction appeals strongly to 
'Frisco architects and already another build- 
ing has been decided on to follow the same 
lines. The steel plates will not only greatly 
strengthen the structure, but cannot shake 
from the skeleton, and will present a smooth 
face, which can be painted any color, and 
is expected to present an extremely pleas- 
ing appearance. 

♦ » ♦ 

When glass is in the lens of a microscope 
it is more valuable than gold, its value then 
being 50,000,000 times greater than when in 
the raw state. 

♦ « ♦ 

A flagpole at St. Catherine's, Ont., is the 
latest adaptation of cement construction. 
The pole is 150 ft. high. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 113 

SLEEPING CAR WITH BERTHS UNDER FLOOR 



A radical change in the 
construction of sleeping cars 
is proposed, which will af- 
ford all the room and com- 
fort of a parlor car during 
the day with plenty of light, 
and better ventilation at 
night. In this car the berths 
are entirely below the floor 
during the day, the space 
being occupied by comfort- 
able arm chairs which may 
be moved about as desired. 
In making up a berth the 
chairs are removed and trap 
doors are raiseu which be- 
come the partitions between 
the sections, and the porter 
by means of a sprocket 
raises one or both berths 
into position. The berths 
lock securely at any desired 
height. The company in- 
tends to make no charge for 
an upper berth when it is 
not occupied, and in such 
event only one berth is 
raised above the floor, leav- 
ing a room unobstructed to 
the cening of the car. 

The occupant can have 
his berth at whatever 
height he desires, like a low 
or high bed, says Railway 




Raising the Berths 



and Locomotive Engineering. 




The new plan enables 
the porter to make up or 
.put away the berths in less 
time than by the present 
system in sleeping cars. In 
the day, when the beds are 
down out of sight below the 
closed up floor, a current of 
pure outside air is allowed 
to get at the beds all the 
time. It passes through 
dustproof screens, and the 
beds get an all-day airing, 
and at night are sweet and 
clean, and moreover they 
are made up and ready for 
use the moment they are 
wanted. 



Berth Raised and Made Up 



In every mile of railroad 
there are 7 ft. and 4 in. that 
are not covered by the rail 
— the space left for expan- 
sion. 



114 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




THIS IS A SCENE IN PARIS, WHERE CONDEMNED MEAT STAYS CONDEMNED AND 
ACTUALLY REACHES THE RENDERING TANKS INSTEAD OF BEING SIDETRACKED AND 
WORKED UP INTO CANNED GOODS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. THE WAGON IN THE 
PICTURE REMOVES DISEASED MEAT, BUT FIRST THE INSPECTOR INJECTS IT WITH 
KEROSENE CARRIED IN THE CAN NEXT THE DRIVER'S SEAT. AMERICANS SHOULD 
BE SATISFIED WITH NOTHING LESS THAN THE PARIS SYSTEM, WHICH IS THE BEST 
IN THE WORLD. 



REVOLUTIONIZE PACKING SYSTEM 



"Kitchen of the Nation" Indescribably Filthy==Packers Have Now Cleaned Up a Few 

Rooms to Show Visitors 



It begins to look as if the people were to 
have relief. The Pure Food bill, which was 
on the verge of failure in the Senate, has 
been revived, and under pressure of an 
awakened and outraged public may yet 
amount to something. For years new me- 
chanical methods and applied chemistry 
have been made use of in a constantly in- 
creasing degree, until few of the articles of 
food are genuine, and many of them, while 
palatable, are unfit for food. Preservatives 
of all kinds are used in milk and meats, 
vinegar is made of deadly acids, butter and 
lard is made of "grease" and much of the 
grease is unfit even for soap. Much of the 
potted and canned meats and sausages are 
made of unspeakable things and by proc- 
esses indescribably filthy. Even these when 
"spoiled" have been "recovered" by mechani- 
cal and chemical processes, and sent out 
again wrapped in a bright, fresh label, 
which gives the package a new appearance. 
Smoked meats by thousands of tons never 
saw any smoke, but are given the smoked 
flavor by a preparation of creosote, which 
is quicker and cheaper. 

The lust for profit has grown to such an 



extent, and has been unchecked, until 
through immunity what was first an ex- 
periment soon became an established prac- 
tice. 

Much the larger proportion of meat killed 
by the Chicago and other large packers is 
healthy, and hence wholesome, but an almost 
incredible amount of diseased meat, abso- 
lutely unfit for human use in any form, has 
been going out. When cut up into steaks 
or roasts only a highly trained expert can 
detect disease. 

That portion of the Reynolds-Neill report 
which has been given the public is true, 
every word of it, and conditions immeas- 
urably worse have long existed. Just now 
the big packing houses in Chicago are re- 
ceiving the first general house cleaning since 
they were established, and in full page ad- 
vertisements the public is invited to call 
and see. But what the packers choose to 
allow the visitor to see is selected depart- 
ments, which are not now and never were, 
specially offensive. In the hundreds of 
great buildings and pens covering a space 
equivalent to several hundred city blocks 
there are more places the visitor cannot 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



115 



ilnd and enter than those he will be allowed 
to see. 

The packers righteously deny the accusa- 
tions, but men who will deliberately deceive 
the public with false brands and sell dis- 
eased meat as good meat, naturally would 
not hesitate to deny having done so. 

The system of government inspection is 
insufficient and does not follow condemned 
meat to destruction. In the past it has 
stopped the movement of a diseased carcass 
in its regular channel, only to have it con- 
tinue its way to the public through other 
avenues. The dressed meat for export has 
been good, because it did not pay to send 
diseasod meat to places where inspection 
would confiscate it. The result has been the 
domestic supply, and especially the local 
Chicago supply, has had to take the re- 
jections. 

The city inspection has been especially 
corrupt and inadequate. What is needed is 
national legislation imposing heavy penal- 
ties on any one who offers for sale or trans- 
ports any diseased animal or meat for food, 
and state and city laws which will protect 
the citizens of the state in which the ani- 
mal is killed and its meat sold. This, with 
a pure food law, will make the packing in- 
dustry less profitable but would enable the 
public to continue the use of meat instead 
of turning vegetarians, as it now feels al- 
most compelled to do. 



London is experiencing an awakening as 
to its own slaughter houses, and points to 
Paris as having the most perfect large sys- 
tern in the world. There they have an in- 
spection which means something, and once 
a carcass is condemned it is used only for 
fertilizer or fed to wild animals in captivity. 
♦ . ♦ 

THRILLING RESCUE AT NIAGARA 
FALLS 



The most sensational rescue ever made at 
Niagara Palls was accomplished recently, 
by the fire and police department. Annis 
Sweitzer, demented and escaped from an 
asylum, plunged into the rapids and was 
carried down until within 15 ft. of the 
brink of the American fall, where he landed 
on a small rock 35 ft. from shore. He re- 
fused to be rescued. Ropes thrown to him 
were cast aside and efforts to lasso him 
failed. 

The hook and ladder company was finally 
called, which loaded the truck with heavy 
weights and ran the extension ladder out 
40 ft. over the water. Fireman Conroy and 
Policeman Butts crawled out on the ladder 
and after a furious struggle with the ma- 
niac, in which they several times narrowly 
escaped going over the falls, he was finally 
secured, bound and brought ashore. The 
incident was the most thrilling rescue ever 
made by a ladder company. 




Paris Police Inspector Stamping Good Meat==lt Can Now Be Sold 



116 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



WILL JAPAN RULE PACIFIC? 



Japan is rapidly assuming the leadership 
as the maritime power of the Pacific ocean. 
In 13 years her merchant marine has grown 
from 180,000 tons to 950,000 tons. One ship- 
yard alone, at Nagasaki, employs 7,000 men 
constantly, and more ships are constantly 
heing secured by purchase from other na- 
tions. 



expeditions, says: "The compressor is to be 
operated by a windmill, since it is im- 
possible to obtain fuel for steam, and the 
air will be discharged into several receivers 
at a high pressure; the air, in turn, being 
used in place of steam to generate 
electricity." 

HUGE ELECTRIC ROTATING TOWER 
CRANE 



TEST FOR JOLT OF AUTOS 



In a test of the best form of springs or 
shock absorbers for autos, held in Paris, 
milk bottles filled with water and left un- 




Kotating Tower Crane at Dublin 

corked were used. A bottle was fastened 
to the floor in each of the side entrances 
of the cars, which were to travel at a given 
rate for a distance of about 16 miles. The 
car returning with the most water remain- 
ing in its bottles won first prize. 



AIR COMPRESSOR FOR ARCTICS 



The S. S. "Arctic" now fitting out at Hali- 
fax for a North Pole expedition will carry 
a windmill and air compressor. The Ameri- 
can Shipbuilder, which originated the idea 
of power and heat from windmills in polar 



For loading such heavy articles as guns, 
boilers, machines, etc., the Dublin Port 
and Docks Board has installed a powerful 
rotating tower crane, operated by electricity 
and dealing with normal working loads of 
100 tons. The part that ro- 
tates consists of a vertical 
crane-post resting on a 
cylindrical bearing and sup- 
porting a horizontal braced 
truss. The upper horizontal 
thrust is borne by means 
of rollers on a ring bearing 
fixed to the trestle, sur- 
rounding the crane-post. 

On the short arm of the 
horizontal truss are located 
the counterweight and the 
machine room, the latter 
housing the machinery for 
hoisting and for traversing 
the hoisting crab, which 
runs on the long arm of the 
truss between the two side 
girders and is provided 
with auxiliary hoisting gear 
of 20 tons working capacity 
and 30 tons maximum car- 
rying capacity. The motors 
for operating the hoists are 
of 60 and 40 b. hp. and the 
one for traveling the crab 
is of 30 b. hp. The slewing 
mechanism is located on a 
platform at the junction of the crane-post 
and the truss, says the Electrical Review, 
London, and is operated by a 15 b. hp. 
motor. On an upper platform above the 
slewing gear is placed the driver's house, 
containing the controllers and having a 
good view of the working field of the crane. 
The greatest height of the load-hook of 
the crane, above the quay wall is 70 ft.; 
hoisting height, 100 ft.; radius for 20 tons, 
80 ft.; for 160 tons, 75 ft. When hoisting 
150 tons the working speed is 3 ft. per min- 
ute, and when hoisting 20 tons, 20 ft. per 
minute; speed of traveler, 28 ft.; eight min- 
utes are required for a complete rotation. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



117 



MODERN EQUIPMENT OF 
THE COAST PATROL 

Non=Sinkable Gasoline Lifeboats ^Breeches Buoys==Work 
of the Surf men 




Life=Saving Crew and Apparatus Used in Rescue Work 



The period of activity at the Life-Saving 
Stations on the Great Lakes opens with 
spring traffic and continues throughout the 
season until the waters are again chained in 
the icy thrall of winter. On the coast — both 
East and West — the Service is maintained 
without interruption all the year round, and 
what the rigors of the life are cannot be 
told in words. To understand one must go 
to one of the Atlantic coast stations on a 
night when the wind rages and the breakers 
have whipped themselves to a froth upon 
the shoals; then let him go out with one of 
the brave surfmen on his long, lone beat, 
and when the wind has buffeted him and the 
sea awed him and the bitter cold numbed 
him and the sharp sand lacerated his face, 
then he will begin to understand. He may 
be unfitted to share the peril. When the 
surfboat, manned by its eight strong oars- 
men, puts out across the breakers, he may 
only stand and watch and pray — he is sure 
to pray — and only then will he realize what 
a life in this service means. 

The United States Life-Saving Service 
now comprises 277 stations, 200 of these are 
located on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, 61 
on the Great Lakes and 16 on the Pacific 
coast. At each station from six to eight 
surfmen and a keeper are employed, and 
these men are nightly patroling 1,000 miles 
of our shoreline. The patrol begins at sun- 
set, one man, clad in oilskins and south- 
wester, with his Coston light (described in 
our March, 1905, number) strung on a stout 
cord around his body, setting out in each 
direction toward half-way houses — mere 
huts — two miles distant, where each meets 
a patrolman from the adjoining station and 



exchanges checks with him to certify that 
they have met. If it is very cold they 
kindle a little fire and after warming for a 
few minutes each sets out on the return 
trip. Any unusual or dark object in his 
range of vision the life-saver turns aside to 
examine — it may be a body cast up by the 
sea. Such ghastly finds are not un- 
common and the gruesome task of carry- 
ing the body to the station is by no means 
least among the hardships. After a wreck 
several years ago in which many people 
were lost, one life-saver, who helped recover 
the dead bodies, lost his reason. The first 
watch is back at 8 p. m., when another sets 
out to return at midnight; this is followed 
by another until 4 a. m. and this by still 
another till daylight. 

The scope of this service in the last few 
years has increased wonderfully, and the 
success in rescuing those in danger is due 
in large part to the modern equipment. All 
of the American governmental life-saving 
crews are now equipped with self-bailing 
and self-righting surf and lifeboats; beach 
guns for hurling lines to stranded vessels, 
breeches buoys for bringing ashore imper- 
iled persons; flag outfits for "wig wag" sig- 
naling by day and rockets and colored lights 
for night signaling. The life-savers are 
also supplied with medical kits of "first aid" 
remedies for the resuscitation of rescued 
persons. 

During the past year Uncle Sam's life- 
savers rendered aid to 785 vessels and to 
more than 4,000 shipwrecked persons. Most 
of the rescued persons were brought to 
places of safety by the lifeboats or surfboats, 
but gasoline launches, with which some of 



118 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



the stations are now equipped, rescued more 
than 300 persons, and half a hundred per- 
sons were brought ashore through the in- 
strumentality of the breeches buoy after 
wreck guns had been used to fire lines to 
ships stranded in such position or with such 
a sea running that no boat could reach them. 
One of the ingenious appliances which has 
been introduced by our life-savers is the 
hawser-cutter, a mechanical device which 
automatically cuts the life line detaching it 
from a sinking ship after all the persons on 
board have been rescued by means of the 
breeches buoy. 

The new gasoline lifeboats surpass any 



sions of the boats are: Length over all, 34 
ft.; beam, 8 ft; draft, 3 ft. 

Among the heart-rending stories of the 
life-savers' work, none is sadder than that 
of the brave surfmen at Monomoy Station, 









1— Firing the Life Line 

2— Wig=wagging a Message to a Vessel 

3— Raising the Tripod to Tighten Life Line; 

Breeches Buoy Ready to Start 
4— Surfboat and Crew 



craft for this purpose ever used by any na- 
tion. They are of the self-righting, self- 
bailing, non-sinkable type, provided with 
sails, oars and 20-hp. engines as means of 
propulsion. Water-tight compartments filled 
with air tanks give them their buoyancy 
and all the heavy weights — aggregating 
about 2,700 lbs. — are placed below the center 
of gravity. The combined buoyancy of the 
air cases is 11 or 12 tons and it requires a 
load of 44 men of average weight to bring 
the deck scuppers awash. The self-bailing 
apparatus consists of five 6-in. copper tubes 
on each side through which the water es- 
capes. Automatic valves prevent its flowing 
in the wrong direction. The fuel tank in 
the boats holds 75 gal. and there is an auxili- 
ary tank of 25 gal. capacity. The dimen- 



on the New England coast. The men, after 
facing fearful peril, rescued five Italians 
from a wrecked vessel. On the trip to shore 
the foreigners became frightened at the 
water that swept in and flung their arms 
around the surfmen's necks so that they 
could not use the oars and the boat capsized. 
The surfmen fought a hard but losing fight. 
One caught hold of a bit of loose wood on 
the boat and was saved — the others all were 
lost. 

» » ♦ 

A college of aeronautics is being estab- 
lished at Koutchins, Russia. The buildings 
include a vast hall for experimental work 
with air-testing devices, a great tower for 
testing air pressures, a laboratory and a 
dynamo building. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA . 119 

THE LARGEST AMUSEMENT STRUCTURE IN THE WORLD 



Planned for Coney Island==To be Built of Concrete and Steel 



The largest steel structure in the world is 
to be erected at Coney Island during the 
next year. The building as planned will be 
a huge steel tower, 700 ft. high, 300 ft. 
across and 900 ft. in circumference at the 
base. It will be taller than any other build- 
ing in the world with the exception of the 
famous Eiffel Tower and will have capacity 
for entertaining 50,000 people at one time. 

The foundations will be of concrete en- 
cased in steel and the superstructure will be 
of steel with concrete floors, fireproof in 
every detail, and provided with ten large 
elevators of the safest design. It is estimated 
that 7,939 tons of steel will be used in its 
construction — more than is contained in the 
great "Williamsburg bridge. There will be 
about 500,000 sq. ft. of floor space; the sev- 
eral stories from the ground up being de- 
voted as follows and located at the height 
above ground mentioned: Auto garage, base 
of tower 5 pedestal roof garden, 150 ft.; 
aerial hippodrome, 250 ft.; main hall, ball- 
room and moving cafe, 300 ft.; aerial palm 
garden, 350 ft.; observatory platform, 500 
ft.; hall of names 550 ft.; U. S. Observation 
Bureau and Wireless Telegraph Station, 600 
ft.; steel flagpole, 700 ft. 

The largest revolving searchlight in the 
world will surmount the tower and hun- , 
dreds of thousands of electric lights will be 
used for decorative illumination. 

Some of the notably high buildings of the 
world are as follows: 

221 ft. — Bunker Hill Monument. 

278 ft. — Masonic Temple, Chicago. 

286 ft. — Flatiron Building, New York. 

382 ft. — Park Row Building, New York. 

515 ft. — Cologne Cathedral. 

547 ft.— Philadelphia City Hall. 

555 ft. — Washington Monument. 
700 ft.— Globe Tower. 
1,000 ft.— Eiffel Tower. 



RAISING SHIPS WITH ACETYLENE 



In a new system for raising sunken ves- 
sels, cans of carbide are placed at various 
parts which are to be emptied of water and 
the cases are broken simultaneously by elec- 
trically fired caps. When the water reaches 
the carbide, acetylene gas is generated and 
the pressure is sufficient to force the water 
out of the compartment. 




Copyright by Friede Globe Tower Co. 



Will be 700 Ft. High 
♦ » ♦ 

BRICK FROM ASHES 



Ashes combined with cement are being 
used in Detroit for a new process brick 
which is said to stand water and fire tests. 
The new brick is ready to use in five days 
and is much lighter than terra cotta. 



The fire protection of Davenport, la., a 
city of 40,000 inhabitants, consists solely in 
the water works system. No tower is used, 
but the pressure ranges from 150 to 200 
lbs. at all times. . 



120 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



ARCH OF COAL AND COKE 



The one-hundredth anniversary of the 
town of Connellsville, Pa., was celebrated by 
the erection of a double arch built of coal 




Arch Built of Fuel 

and coke, for the production of which the 

town is noted. At night the arches were 

illuminated with hundreds of electric lights. 

♦ » ♦ 

CHEAP PORTABLE BOAT MOTOR 



A portable outfit weighing complete only 
35 lb. can now be had for use on row boats. 
The outfit is so compact and light it can 
be carried in a trunk or by the hand and 
on arrival at destination requires only a few 
minutes to attach ready for use. After a 




Row Boat Motor 

person has placed the motor on a boat once 
or twice he can do the work in three min- 
utes. The only tool required is a small 

wrench. The illustration shows the manner 



of fastening to the boat and the gearing 
connection to the propeller shaft. For duck 
hunters, fishermen, and families spending a 
few weeks at a lake, or visiting different 
places each year such a motor would prove 
a great convenience. The tank holds a sup- 
ply for 60 miles which will cover ordinary 
requirements for one day. A speed of about 
5 miles an hour can be made. The outfit is 
comparatively inexpensive. 



TRACK TELEPHONES ON BAVARIAN 
RAILROADS 



Nearly all the lines of the Bavarian state 
railways are equipped with a telephone 




Trackman Telephoning 

service which can be used at any point. 
Trains, track foremen and others are sup- 
plied with small portable instruments which 
enable connection with headquarters. The 
system offers many advantages in every-day 
use as well as for emergency cases. 

A single copper wire carried on the tele- 
graph poles is used in connection with the 
track rails. The portable instrument is con- 
nected to the overhead wire by means of an 
extension pole, and to the track by a clamp, 
which can be done in a few seconds. The 
telephone is then ready for use. The ad'- 
vantage over a telegraph instrument is that 
any one can use the telephone. 






ENCYCLOPEDIA 121 

MOTOR BOAT THAT TERRIFIED NATIVES 




THIS IS THE "TOGA," A NEW ZEALAND RACING MOTOR BOAT WHICH THREW THE 
NATIVES INTO SPASMS OF FEAR. THE IDEA OF FIGUREHEAD DECORATION OF BOATS 
WAS WORKED OUT IN ALL MANNER OF FANCIES FROM EARLIEST TIMES, AND CON- 
TINUED FOR CENTURIES. DURING THE PAST DECADE FIGUREHEAD CARVING HAS 
BEEN ABANDONED. 



MOTOR SLEIGH FASTER THAN 
AUTOMOBILE 



A motor sleigh, capable of making 35 
miles an hour on snow and up to 90 miles 
an hour on ice, was constructed and tested 
in Springfield, Ohio, last winter. The 
conveyance is propelled by means of a strong 
steel paddle wheel which successfully grips 
the snow or cuts the ice and pushes the 
sleigh ahead, faster than the speed of an au- 
tomobile having the same size engine. The 
paddle wheel is held by a swinging frame 
and is pressed down by a spring which al- 
lows a vertical movement of 15 in. each way 
from the level. 

The engines thus far experimented with 
are air-cooled and it is probable that the 
warm air from the engine could be utilized 
for the comfort of the passengers. A num- 
ber of bells are placed underneath the sleigh 
for the purpose of simulating the music of a 
similar horse-drawn vehicle. 

The speed changing levers are similar to 




those of an automobile, and the brake lever 
connects to a toothed trailing leVer, which 
will bring the machine to a dead stop on the 
steepest hills. 



AN ELECTRIC AUTOMATIC AIR 
COMPRESSOR 



A Speedy Motor Sleigh 



The air compressor here shown is very 
useful for barbers, physicians, art studios, 
and manufacturing concerns needing com- 
pressed air in moderate quantities. 

An electric motor, A, furnishes power to 
run the pump, 

B, which dis- 
charges into 
the receiver, 

C, An auto- 
matic switch, 

D, opens the 
circuit when 
the pressure 
becomes suffi- 
ciently high, 
and closes it again before the pressure falls 
too low. This is accomplished by means of 
a flexible diaphragm which is bulged out by 
the pressure, thus causing the switch to 
open. 

The motor is %-hp. and takes about as 
much current as three incandescent lamps. 
It will handle about 35 cu. ft. of air per 
minute and will give any pressure up to 
75 lbs. 



B 









tf^hll ■? 














c 








k&M^S^S*: 








1 1 













122 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



THE SMALLEST ENGINE ON EARTH 



Made by T. H. Robinson, Toronto, Can. 



been used to run it and connection is made 
through the ebony casing. 

Two hardened and ground steel bearings 
are inserted in the gold engine bed for the 



Model engine making has its attractions 
for those of mechanical taste. Several small 
steam engines have been made by- watch- 
makers whose calling particularly fits them 
for this class of work. They are useful as 
window attractions as well as forming . a 
good sample of wont. An upright brass en- 
gine 1 in. high and weighing 4% dwts. 
(about the weight of a wedding ring) and 
standing on a 5-cent Canadian coin attract- 
ed a deal of attention in a jeweler's window. 

But the smallest of all small engines is 
"Tiny Tim," made of gold and steel by a 
Toronto watchmaker, T. H. Robinson, of 526 
Yonge street. It is smaller than a common 
housefly, and the 
smallest car- 
tridge used in 
this country, the 
r i m-fl r e "22 
short," will easily 
slip over the en- 
tire engine and 
flywheel. The 
stroke is V 32 in.; 
bore of cylinder, 
Vioo in.; diameter 
o f flywheel, j% 
in.; weight, 1 gr.; 
speed, 6,000 revo- 
lutions per- min- 
ute, that is, 100 
per second. When 
running no mo- 
tion is visible, 
but the vibrating 
piston emits a 
note similar to that made oy the mosquito. 

The horsepower is 7«sooo part of a horse- 
power, and the complete engine weighs just 
4 gr., Troy weight — about the weight of a 
match. This means that it would take 120 
such engines to weigh 1 oz., 1,920 engines 1 
lb., or 3,840,000 engines to weigh 1 ton. The 
measurement of speed and horsepower has 
been made by Dr. C. A. Chant, of the phys- 
ical department of Toronto University. The 
engine bed and stand are of gold; the piston 
rod, cylinder, shaft and center of flywheel 
are of steel; the rim of the flywheel is gold. 
The feed is through the stand of the engine 
bed, which is hollow; this is mounted on a 
brass tube which is encased in ebony fur- 
nished with a screw top for purpose of 
safety in carrying. Compressed air has 




Exact Size 




Plan and Side View Enlarged 

shaft to run in. These are counterbored 
from the inside, which further diminishes 
the friction as well as forming a self-con- 
tained oil well — the oil hole being placed 
midway between them on top. Seventeen 
parts are used in making the engine. 

It was shown by request and operated be- 
fore the Canadian Institute, at Toronto, 
lantern slides being used to show its con- 
struction, and comparison with well-known 
objects. 

♦ • ♦ 

SHIP REPAIRING UNDER WATER 



A new invention by which it is possible 
for a man to go down and repair bad leaks 
while a vessel is at sea consists of a stout 
canvas cylinder 30 ft. long, 2 ft. in diameter, 
distended by hoops strong enough to with- 
stand the pressure of the water and closed 
at the bottom and open at the top. This 
queer device is lowered over the side of the 
vessel, with its top well above the level of 
the water, and drawn close to the vessel by 
a line passed under the keel. The cylinder 
has two canvas arms let into it at just the 
right height for a man standing on the 
wooden bottom and within reach of the 
hands when thrust through there is an out- 
side pocket for tools. To enable the work- 
man to see what he is doing there is a 
watertight window let into the canvas. 

The first device of this kind was made of 
a sail aboard the Liverpool barque "Bir- 
nam Wood," under stress of circumstances, 
says the Shipping World, London. The ves- 
sel developed a bad leak and both the hand 
pumps and windmill pump were going, 
when the captain thought of the canvas cyl- 
inder. With the sailmaker's aid it was soon 
in' readiness and the captain descended, re- 
paired the leak, which was 12 ft. under 
water, and did some other caulking. The 
vessel was at sea one hundred days there 
after and came into port perfectly tight 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 

LATEST AMERICAN ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE 



123 



Weighs 85 Tons==Speed 60 Miles An Hour==Designed for Trolley and Third Rail 




Electric Locomotive= Speed 60 Miles An Hour 



The illustration shows the latest type of 
American electric locomotive, of which 35 
are now under construction. They will he 
used in hauling passenger trains between 
the depot in New York City and Stamford, 
Conn., g, distance of 33 miles. These locomo- 
tives are 36 ft. long, weigh 85 tons, run on 
four pairs of 62-in. drivers, with four gear- 
less motors of a working capacity of 200-hp. 
each; or 800 hp. for the locomotive. This 
is sufficient to draw a 250-ton train on 
through service at 60 miles per hour. The 
cab is of sheet steel with windows at the 
end, which enable a close view of the track. 

Direct current is used over one section of 
the road, and taken from a third rail by 
means of four collector shoes. From Wood- 
lawn, N. Y., to Stamford the curent is al- 
ternating of 11,000 volts, and is taken from 
overhead wires, which are suspended from 
steel messenger wires carried by bridges 
reaching across the tracks at • intervals of 
300 ft. To collect alternating, current from 
the high-potential overhead trolley line, the 



locomotive is equipped with two pantagraph- 
type bow trolleys, each of which has a ca- 
pacity sufficient to carry the total current 
required by the locomotive under average 
conditions — two being provided to insure re- 
serve capacity. The motors are constructed 
to work on either the direct or alternating 
current. 

♦ • ♦ 

CONTROLLING WIRELESS 



The directing and controlling of wireless 
waves so that they can be aimed at a specific 
point — as at a ship or some particular sta- 
tion — is engrossing Marconi at present. He 
has an apparatus for this purpose in hand 
and expects to soon perfect it. 



In 1905 the 295 box factories in New 
England alone consumed 600,493,000 ft. of 
lumber, valued at $8,831,000, of which 81 per 
cent was white pine. 



124 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



<~ — 


fUK 


0= 


"IRE CRACKERS AS FIRe\^RM 


_ 



By George Horton, Chief Baltimore Fire Department 



The firecracker, which has been the means 
of innumerable fires, can be made to serve 
as an unfailing alarm, even though no one 
is in the house when the fire starts. The 
best detectives are the large dynamite crack- 
ers. I have these crackers distributed all 
over my house and have advised any number 
of persons to use them. The idea is decid- 
edly practicable. One of the crackers is at- 
tached to a length of wire and it is then 
suspended from some place where it is likely 
to be useful. 

I have these crackers hanging from the 
roof of the cellar, from the ceilings of the 
stairways, from under the padded seats of 
the chairs and sofas — every place where they 
can be conveniently put and are likely to be 
of use. The idea is simply this: If a fire 
breaks out, it can't make much headway be- 
fore it reaches one of the crackers and the 
explosion gives the alarm. The idea came 

TROLLEY CAR MOVES HOUSE 



One of the most unusual purposes to 
which a trolley car was ever put happened 
at Atlantic City, N. J. 
The building was a 
good sized story and a. 
half cottage and one 
of the big double truck 
summer cars of the 
City & Suburban Trac- 
tion Co. was substi- . 
tuted for horses. 

The company ren- 
dered this assistance 
in order to make the 
delay from blocking 
its tracks as short as 
possible. The Street 
Railway Journal says: 
"The span wires were 
taken down one at a 
time, and the trolley 
wire pulled to one side, 
sliding along the side 
of the house, two line- 
men taking down and 
putting up the wires 
as fast as the house 
was moved." 



to me some years ago, and was suggested by 
a fire in a grocery store. 

The fire had got considerable headway, 
and it was discovered by the explosion of 
some canned goods which attracted the at- 
tention of the people in the house. I decided 
that if canned goods made a good fire detec- 
tive, crackers would be just as good. 

There is absolutely no danger, as some 
would imagine, from dynamite crackers, un- 
less the fire is there, and when a dynamite 
cracker — the kind I use is about two inches 
long — explodes, it throws itself right out 
with the force of the explosion. It is a good 
plan to keep a couple of them in a ward- 
robe, where there are a number of garments. 
The probabilities are that if a fire took place 
the force of the detective cracker going off 
would extinguish the blaze. 

I have fixed up hundreds of these crackers 
for various persons and certainly do advise 
their use, especially in houses in the sub- 
urbs, where there are not likely to be peo- 
ple passing, and where a fire is, therefore, 
likely to get considerable headway before it 
is discovered. 

» • ♦ 

Two great steel plants are to be built on 
the Pacific coast, one at Tacoma, to cost 
$5,000,000, and another at Seattle. The 
project is being financed by men who have 
made their fortunes in lumbering on the 
coast. One plant will have 3,200 acres and a 
mile and a half of water front on Puget 
sound. 




Trolley Car Mo\ing a House 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



125 



REINFORCED CONCRETE DAMS 

Points of Superiority==Principles of Strength in Concrete=SteeI Construction 




Constructing the Schuylerville Dam 



The use of reinforced concrete — that form 
of construction now lending itself to all 
great engineering enterprises where com- 
bined strength and permanence is desired, 
and especially those in which a high resist- 
ance to two great natural elements (wind 
and wave) is essential — presents to the en- 
gineer or architect new considerations not 
yet generally discerned by the law-making 
element of the country, and therefore in- 
adequately covered by the building ordi- 
nances of our municipalities. In a number 
of instances, not recognizing reinforced con- 
crete as a special method of construction, in- 
volving principles peculiar to itself alone, 
the regulations relating to ordinary steel 
construction have been applied without 
change to reinforced concrete, and the mis- 
fit, liable to result in serious loss or great 
danger to property and life, is apparent only 
to the expert, who finds himself helpless 
to remedy matters. 

By means of reinforced concrete the world 
is embattling herself against Nature's stress 
of wind and wave and quake. For her edi- 
fices, that she would fain make permanent 
as earth may be, she is striking roots of 
concrete and steel; for her long-distance 
beacons — on terrible Cape Hatteras, on Mile 
Rock, at Nikolaev and many other mariners' 



death runs — she is lifting up shafts of con- 
crete and steel; her swift rivers, given to 
overwhelming and devastating spring floods, 
she is spanning and damming with structures 
of concrete and steel; and she is honey- 
combing the earth's crust with great tubes 
of this same construction. Enthusiasts have 
declared that this is the concrete-steel age — 
enthusiasts, like geniuses, are wont to tran- 
scend the truth; nevertheless, the matter 
is sufficiently important to warrant the pub- 
lic's becoming acquainted with the funda- 
mental principles involved in the strength 
of this form of construction. 

"The strength of a reinforced concrete 
structure depends absolutely on the intimate 
union of the concrete and steel; the struc- 
ture must be at the point of failure as soon 
as that union is destroyed." So states 
Walter Webb Loring, in the Journal of the 
Franklin Institute. Experts in general 
claim that the elastic limit of the metal 
represents the strength of the reinforced 
concrete structure; the inexperienced would 
take the assertion literally: in his mind 
the expert qualifies it. Take a steel bridge 
with an elastic limit of 30,000 or 32,000 lbs. 
and an ultimate of 60,000 lbs. A working 
stress as high as 16,000 lbs. has been per- 
mitted with safety. If, however, the structure 



126 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



were concrete, reinforced with steel of 
the same grade as that used in the steel 
structure, it would by no means be safe to 
permit so great a stress, as the union be- 
tween the concrete and steel would be de- 
stroyed. The stress in concrete due to its 
contraction during setting, under some con- 
ditions, is as great as that due to the work- 



ing moment increasing with the flood and 
being resisted by the weight of the dam. 
The dead weight of masonry required is so 
expensive that ordinarily a small factor of 
safety is allowed, and under an unusual 
flood, the dam gives way. The timber dam 
has an upstream face, making an angle of 
less than 45° with the horizontal, the center 




CKass-secTion 
HYDROELECTRIC PQMftSTfiTIOri 



Fig. 1 "Sect ion of Oakdale Power House, Tippecanoe, lnd. 



ing load, and this, also, must be taken into 
consideration. In one bar system of rein- 
forcement, steel with an elastic limit of 60,- 
000 lbs. is used. In calculating, the limit 
is taken as 50,000 lbs. and divided by four 
to compute the working stress — 12,500 lbs. 
The best reinforcement is considered to be 
a deformed (bent or curved) bar with a 
high elastic limit, the shape of the bar being 
of the greater importance. 

The construction of dams is one of the 
most noteworthy applications of reinforced 
concrete. These dams are built hollow, with 
a comparatively flat upstream face, so that 
there is no tendency to overturn, and in 
many cases both the gatehouse and power 
house are located inside the dam, greatly 
reducing the expense. Fig. 1 shows a sec- 
tion of the Oakdale power house, located 
within a dam, at Tippecanoe, lnd. 

The concrete-steel dam has many points 
of superiority over both those built of solid 
masonry and those built of wood. The ma- 
sonry dams are built with a nearly vertical 
upstream face, so that the water tends to 
overturn at the toe of the dam, the overturn- 



of pressure coming within the base, so that 
the dam could not possibly overturn. But, 
as Mr. Loring impressively states: "A 
wooden dam is never any better than on the 
day it is finished. Its deterioration com- 
mences from that day." 

On the other hand, the reinforced con- 
crete dam, as before stated, has no tendency 
to overturn, and gains steadily in strength 
from the time it is built, becoming like the 
rocks of the earth, part of the earth. The 
dam being hollow, can be inspected for leaks 
from time to time, and thus kept in abso- 
lutely certain condition. Where the soil is 




Fig. 2=-Section of Dam for Low Head and Soft Bottom 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



127 



porous, weep-holes (Fig. 2) are made in 
the bottom of the dam to eliminate any ten- 
dency to upward hydrostatic pressure. Fig. 
2 shows a section of a dam located on a 
soft bottom. The expense of a solid ma- 
sonry dam under these conditions would be 
prohibitive. 

Another important advantage is the effect 
of ice on the dam. Where a solid masonry 
dam would be carried out by the pressure of 
•a great ice gorge, or where a defective plank 




Section of Breast Dam for Soft Foundation and Low Head 

in. a wooden dam would allow the ice to 
bite into its surface and finally destroy it, 
the hard, smooth, uniform deck of the con- 
crete dam, rising by an easy incline from 
the bed of the river, lifts the whole mass of 
ice easily to the crest and the incline of the 
apron drops it to the foot. 

In building the Schuylerville (New York) 
dam the record closing time was made. 
"Work on this dam began September 27, 
1904, and was finished December 31, 1904. 
Until March 11, 1905, the water was allowed 
to flow through the channels left and then 
the dam was closed in just 45 minutes; a 
feat impossible in any other form of con- 
struction. 





Section of Concrete=Steel Dam With Half Apron 



COMPARATIVE COST OF 50 HP. BY 
SEVERAL MOTIVE POWERS 



Section of Apron Dam for Rock Foundation and High Head 



The efficiency of a producer gas outfit is 
set forth by a writer in the Wood-Worker 
who says: 

A party who owns a wood-working plant, 
now closed down, applied to me for advice 
as to the most economical power to install. 
When the plant was operated a portion of 
the fuel needed was obtained from the ref- 
use, but the additional fuel required was one 
of the main reasons for suspending opera- 
tions. He had in use an 80-h. p. boiler with 
a 30-h. p. engine, but wanted my calcula- 
tions to consider a 50-h. p. outfit for the 
new conditions, and was inclined to resume 
operations if the cost of fuel could be 
brought within a reasonable figure. 

After obtaining the prices of the various 
fuels available at that place I found the fol- 
lowing fuel costs for operating a 50-h. p. 
plant for one year: Steam, $2,625; city gas, 
$3,240; gasoline, $2,812.50; electric motor, 
$2,500; producer gas (anthracite coal), 
$562.50, and producer gas (coke), $393.70. 

Then, taking into consideration the differ- 
ence in the cost of these prime movers, I 
found the following comparison for operat- 
ing each apparatus for a period of ten years. 
These figures include the original cost, 6 
jper cent, on the investment, repairs, fuel 
and attendance for ten years: Steam, $28- 
850, per h. p. per year $77.70; city gas, $37,- 
720, per h. p. per year $75.44; gasoline, $33.- 
445, per h. p. per year $66.89; electric mo- 
tor, $26,300, per h. p. per year $52.50; pro- 
ducer gas (anthracite coal), $13,105, per 
h. p. per year $26.21; producer gas (coke), 
$11,417, per h. p. per year $22.83. 



128 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



The difference between the cost of operat- 
ing the steam and the producer gas appa- 
ratus with coke 1'or fuel would produce a 
dividend of 10 per cent, on an investment 
of $26,000. In making this comparison no 
account was taken of such items as would 
be common to all the apparatus considered, 
such as depreciation, etc. 



MAKING CEMENT CISTERNS==A 
NEW INDUSTRY 



Cisterns are now built of concrete, which 
has numerous advantages over the old style. 
As now built the cistern is a large jug, with- 
out seam or joint, and all in one piece. 
Cistern making of concrete is a new branch 
of work which the concrete constructor can 
profitably add to his cement walks, founda- 
tions, and hollow blocks. 

A patent has been granted on a set of ad- 




Form Complete 

justable forms, which enable the cistern to 
be made of any size desired. The cistern 
can be built up one section at a time where 
there is seepage or danger of cave-in. In 
building, a 4-in. floor of concrete is first laid, 
then the forms are set and a thin concrete 
poured all around, and tamped. The pro- 
portions recommended are: 1 part cement; 
2 parts sand; 4 parts crushed stone. Or, if 
gravel is used: 1 part cement; six parts 
gravel. The forms remain in place three or 
four days, then are removed, and the inte- 
rior of the cistern given a cement wash or 
a coat of cement mortar. For the wash use 
a clean cement with 2 per cent waterproof 




compound. For mortar: 1 part cement, 2 
parts sand, and 2 per cent waterproof com- 
pound. Such a cistern should last indefi- 
nitely. 

Fig. 2 shows how the arch and neck are 
built up; Fig. 3 how forms are braced and 
scaffolds placed. 



AUTOMOBILE HEARSE 



The automobile hearse which has been pre- 
dicted, has arrived, and is found to be 
extremely satisfactory. The exhaust from 
the engines is muffled so as to make the ac- 
tion of the machinery noiseless, and the 
silent movement of the vehicle is said to be 
in no way displeasing. The next advance 
will doubtless be a train of automobiles for 
the accommodation of all who accompany 
the hearse to the cemetery, the vehicles be- 
ing covered and painted in some subdued 
color. 




The Auto Hearse 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



129 




A FLOOD AS AN AMUSEMENT SPECTACLE 



The London Hippodrome, world-renowned 
for its marvelous spectacles, has recently 
amused the English public with a flood so 
realistic and thrilling that spectators are 
thrown into a frenzy of excitement almost 
equal to that produced by a real flood. 

A peaceful village scene, with cattle 
browsing in the lanes and children playing 



about the doors of its pretty cottages, is 
suddenly transformed into a place of hor- 
rors by the breaking of a dam. The little 
village is demolished by 300,000 gal. of water 
that sweeps over it carrying away bridges, 
trees and houses. Terrified animals rush 
down the hillside into the lake and thrilling 
rescues of human beings are effected. 



INCREASING CAPACITY OF FREIGHT STEAMERS 



Ocean freight steamers are now being 
built after plans which a few years ago 
were declared impossible, and which 20 years 
ago could not have been constructed because 
the materials could not have been furnished. 



The illustrations show the ordinary type 
of steel hull construction as compared with 
the latest types. In the old the upright and 
cross beams seriously interfere with stow- 
ing of cargoes. 









WW 

.ttp.y." ■"- 



'9^g2*^sxs2s^ 



New Type 



Old Type 



New Type 



130 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



LARGEST ANCHORING CABLES FOR 
NEW CUNARDERS 



Since 1855 until the present year the 
chain cables for anchoring purposes made 
for the "Great Eastern" have held the record 
for size. These cables were made of iron 
2% in. in diameter, and at the time were 
considered enormous. With the construction 




Cable Before and After Testing 

of the two new mammoth Cunarders, "Lusi- 
tania" and "Mauritania,' the anchoring cable 
record is broken along with many others. 

The iron used in the Cunarders' cables is 
3% in. thick at the smallest part, or % in. 
larger than that used for the "Great East- 
ern." Each link is about 22% in. long, and 
with the crucible cast-steel stud weighs 160 
lbs. The weight of the main cable, which is 
about 2,000 ft. long, is 100 tons, while the 
joining and anchor shackles weigh 500 lbs. 
and 840 lbs. respectively. The chain is 
forged throughout. 

Three links of the chain were subjected to 
severe tests. First, to the proof strain of 
189.8 tons established by the British Ad- 
miralty. This resulted in a total elongation 
of the three links by % in. The chain then 
withstood the statutory breaking strain of 
265.7 tons with a further elongation of % 
in. resulting. Then the maximum capacity of 
the testing machine — over 370 tons — was 



applied and the links did not break under it, 
nor show any sign of fracture or defect on 
examination. The only result of the tests 
— the most severe ever applied to a chain 
cable — was an elongation of the three links 
by 6 in. above the length before testing. 



SEVERE 



TEST OF PRODUCER=GAS 
ENGINE 



It is well known that the producer-gas 
engine is more economical of fuel than a 
steam power plant, but there seems to be a 
great difference of opinion among engineers 
regarding the possibility of successfully op- 
erating producer-gas plants for furnishing 
continuous power. As a result of this con- 
troversy, Prof. R. H. Fernald, of St. Louis, 
undertook an endurance test, using a 235-hp. 
gas engine, supplied by a pressure producer, 
using bituminous coal. 

The engine (see Fig.) was connected to a 
generator, the electrical energy being dis- 
sipated by a water rheostat. The load on 
the engine could thus be adjusted, by increas- 
ing the surface of the plates exposed to the 
water, or by bringing the plates closer to- 
gether. The apparatus was started on the 
first of April, and ran continuously for 24 
consecutive days, thus affording indisputa- 
ble proof of the possibility of operating pro- 
ducer plants continuously for power pur- 
poses. 



Producer Gas Engine 



Water Rheostat 



Generator 



JU 



m 



Engine and Generator Connected 

If other tests confirm the conclusions of 
Mr. Fernald, the gas producer may possibly 
revolutionize the modern methods of power 
plant construction, as the efficiency of a gas- 
producer power plant is about 30 per cent of 
the total heat value of the coal used, while 
a steam plant usually gives 12 per cent or 
less. 

♦ » ♦ 

To cleanse zinc articles pickle in spirits 
of salts (hydrochloric acid) with water 
added for about three minutes. Then wash 
and dry. 



THE INSTRUMENT THAT RECORDS 
EARTHQUAKES 



While San Francisco Was Falling the Seismograph in Washington 

Felt the Shock 



A delicately poised needle in one of the 
Government institutions at Washington, 
D. C, trembled violently while San Fran- 
cisco was being destroyed. True to its pur- 
pose, the vibrations of this needle in sym- 
pathy with the earthquake shocks thousands 



past few years that there has been installed 
the latest and largest type of seismograph, 
imported from Strassburg. 

The seismograph is so delicately adjusted 
that it will even register the feeble, unfelt 
earthquakes which frequently occur in all 




Photographic Reproduction of the Seismograph Record at Washington, D. C, of the San Francisco Earthquake 



of miles distant, traced a permanent record 
of the disturbance and has preserved a his- 
tory of the great convulsion which scientific 
men say will prove of great value. 

The sensitive apparatus in question is an 
instrument known as the Seismograph, the 
function of which is to record all earthquake 
shocks, violent or slight. It is located at 
the headquarters of the United States 
Weather Bureau. This institution has had 
in use since 1892 instruments for automat- 
ically recording and measuring the trem- 
bling of the earth, but it is only within the 



131 



parts of the world. The chief features of the 
apparatus are a horizontal pendulum sup- 
ported on sharp steel points and swinging 
with great freedom of motion; and a mas- 
sive lead weight, the latter so arranged that 
it remains at rest during an earthquake, 
notwithstanding the fact that the earth and 
its own supports are undergoing severe vi- 
bratory displacements. 

The magnifying and recording lever which 
is instrumental in writing down the earth- 
quake's message to science is made of a 
very thin sheet of aluminum, bent into av 



132 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



inverted trough-shaped form to secure stiff- 
ness. The record is traced on a sheet of 
smoked paper wrapped around a cylinder. 
In order that there may he the least possi- 
ble friction at the tracing point the coating 
of soot is made relatively thin and paper 
with a highly glazed surface is used. The 
record cylinder makes one revolution per 
hour and a mechanical attachment shifts it 
endwise as it revolves. 

It was almost 8:20 o'clock a. m., Wash- 
ington time, when the seismograph at the 
Weather Bureau headquarters began to re- 
cord the San Francisco earthquake on the 
morning of April 18. The stronger wave 
motion began at 8:25 oclock, or about five 
minutes after the first perceptible tremors, 
and the recording pen was carried entirely 
off the record sheet by the violence of the 
motion from 8:32 to 8:35 o'clock. After the 
latter time the motion gradually diminished, 
but did not cease until long after noon. 



a tremblor, there appears to be no reliable 
conditions on which to forecast an earth- 
quake. Storms of wind or rain, periods of 
intense heat, cold or drought, even areas of 
probable cyclones and tornadoes, are foretold 
with very reliable accuracy. But all these: 
have to do with conditions of the atmos- 
phere; it is not unreasonable to expect that 
the indications, if any, of an approaching, 
earthquake will have to be sought for within 
the earth itself, if indeed the disturbance 
is accompanied by any advance conditions. 



/m 




Seismograph at Washington, D. C. 



=This Picture was Taken Before the Instrument was Fastened 
to its Foundation 



As to the cause of the recent earthquake, 
scientists differ widely. Some attribute it 
to a displacement of rock strata resulting 
from a gradual but long-continued rising of 
the coast range of mountains. Others find 
in certain sunspots an explanation satisfac- 
tory to themselves; still others connect the 
upheaval with the recent activity in Ve- 
suvius. In this latter claim is included the 
observer at the Government observatory at 
Greenwich, England. 

Aside from a peculiar condition of the at- 
mosphere which people in California have 
long recognized as "earthquake weather," and 
which generally precedes by one or two days 



The subject certainly affords a large 
attractive field for study and research. 



and 



REFRIGERATOR CARS ON INTER= 
URBAN LINES 



The Cleveland (Ohio) board of health has 
recently ruled that milk brought into that 
city must not exceed 50 degrees F. in tem- 
perature when delivered. In consequence, a 
demand has been made on the interurban 
electric lines handling the milk supply that 
they provide refrigeration facilities, so that 
the dairymen can comply with the new rule. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



133 



KITES FOR ARMY WIRELESS WORK 




Copyright Waldon Fawcett 



Bell's Cone-Shaped Kite Used in Wireless Experiments 



The wireless telegraph corps of the TJ. S. 
Army are conducting some interesting, and 
it is said successful, experiments in work- 
ing wireless telegraph by means of kites. 
These kites, which are constructed with 
wires which serve not only as framework 
of the kite but as antennae as well, are the 
invention of Prof. Alexander Graham Bell. 
The illustrations give a very fair idea of 
the shape and construction of the kites 
and a field sending and receiving station. 



The same wire which serves as kite 
"string" also makes electrical connection 
between the kite and the operator. The 
sending apparatus is said to be very much 
simpler than anything yet devised for short 
line work. The operator receives through 
a pair of telephone receivers which are 
held to the ears. A hand brake controls 
the letting out of the kite wire, and an 
ordinary direct connected crank is used to 
wind it in again. 




Copyright Waldon Fawcett 



Receiving Wireless Messages by Means of a Bell Kite 



COLD AIR PIPED FROM WELLS 



Cold air for keeping the houses cool and 
preserving butter, eggs, meat, etc., is sup- 
plied by the wells at Thompson Falls, Mont. 
The wells are about 60 ft. deep and are fed 
through a gravel formation by the moun- 



tain streams. A current of cold air rises 
from them continually. To use the air the 
wells are closely covered and tapped with 
large pipes a few feet below the ground; 
by this means a temperature of 55 degrees 
is maintained in public buildings and dwell- 
ing houses. For cold storage purposes, a 
house is built directly above the well. 



134 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



MODERN STEEL STRUCTURES RESIST 

EARTHQUAKE 

Astonishing Demonstration at San Francisco==Modern Skyscrapers Stand While OId=Style 

Three=Story Buildings Fall 



By J. M. Baltimore, San Francisco 







No. l.==City and County Building: A Total Wreck 



(The following from our staff correspondent in San 
Francisco is in response to our request for information 
specially concerning the condition of the modern steel 
constructed skyscrapers, and will correct the general 
impression that this type of construction failed under 
earthquake shock. The announcement that more steel- 
frame buildings will be erected at once will now be 
better understood. — Editor.) 



which astounded even their most enthusias- 
tic advocates. Even the conflagration which 
followed, and whose mass of heat and flame 



The chaotic condition of affairs here, 
which is simply indescribable, together with 
having lost all my own personal effects in 
the Are, has made it difficult for me to send 
a report with as full details as you expect. 
Practically everyone has a new address, and 
the engineers and architects I had to seek 
out were no exception to the rule. They are 
working night and day, and will grant an 
interview of only a few minutes. 

The modern steel construction, including 
the skyscrapers of twelve or more stories, 
apparently stood the shock in a manner 




No. 2.==Post Office: Unharmed 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



135 




No. 3.==Call Building, 300 Ft. High«lnterior Burned Out, but no Visible Cracks in Outer Walls 

was simply a great gulf of roaring, boiling 
fire, failed in several cases to destroy the 
steel structure while burning out every- 
thing combustible in its interior. The fol- 
lowing is compiled from the first examina- 
tions of the experts; a minute investigation 
will take weeks and perhaps months, and 
may possibly reveal strains which are not 
apparent or easily discovered. 

Photograph No. 1 shows the once magnifi- 
cent City Hall, including the Court House, 
Hall of Records, City Prison, Hospital, Police 
Courts, etc., after the dreadful earthquake 
and fire. It must have been the very center 
of the seismic disturbance, for no building 
in all San Francisco was one-tenth as badly 
damaged by the quake as was it. It was 
practically wrecked; then the fire, some 30 
hours later, completed the work of ruin. 
The shock knocked off all the stone and 
metal covering all around the huge and 
towering dome, one of the finest in the 
United States, leaving the top standing. The 
network of steel structural part standing 
comparatively intact. This magnificent 
structure originally cost $5,000,000, and was 
several years in process of construction. 
It is deemed past all repair. Engineers No< 4 .„ Flood B uiiding==i2 stories-mterior Burned- 
have made a careful examination of the Can be Rest ored for $100,000 




136 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




SNo. 5.==St. Francis Hotel; 200 Ft. High; Interior Bur-ieJ; Structure Unharmed; Skeleton at Right 
is the Addition Under Construction 

ruins, and are of the opinion that it will shock and then the fire may be seen by the 



have to be taken down and entirely rebuilt. 
It was composed jointly of granite, sand- 
stone, pressed brick, reinforced concrete, 
structural steel and a considerable propor- 
tion of wood. How it stood the fearful 



photo. 

No. 2 shows a part of the brand-new Post 
Office building. It stood the heavy shocks 
without a perceptible external crack or 
seam. All the sidewalks both granite and 




No. 7.==GeneraI View of Burned Business District==Note Tall Steel Constructed Buildings- Some Were 
Under Construction and Will be Rushed to Completion 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



137 



concrete and streets surrounding the build- 
ing were broken to pieces, bulged up and 
smashed, bent, and overlapped. The fire 
did comparatively but little damage, as may 
be seen. Only a part of the interior burned 
at all. Even many window panes were not 
broken. The building is made, externally, 
of fine California granite; the interior of 
fine marble brought from nearly all parts 
of the world, and other fine stone and struc- 
tural steel. It certainly stood the ordeals 
wonderfully well. This building cost Uncle 
Sam about $5,000,000. The total cost of re- 
pairs is estimated at $100,000. 

No. 3 shows the famous and beautiful 
Call building — the one standing in the cen- 
ter background. It was one of the few 
modern buildings that stood the two tests. 
The Call stood the shock without a visible 
external crack or seam. The interior of the 
building subsequently burned from base- 
ment to apex and yet it stood intact Just 
as the photo shows, blackened and charred 
inside. The building has been adjudged 
safe by engineers. It has a massive frame 
of structural steel; all external material 
being of fine sandstone. The building cost 
over a million dollars, and was one of the 
chief architectural ornaments and glories 
of San Francisco. It was 300 ft. high from 
sidewalk to pinnacle. 

No. 4 is the great Flood building, 12 
stories high, after the shock and fire. It 
stands Gibraltar-like, not a crack or seam. 
Just furnished and filled with tenants; cost, 
$4,500,000; built of structural steel, sand- 
stone and concrete basement; all marble 
and terra cotta interior; a noble and mag- 
nificent structure of which San Francisco 
was proud. Floors comparatively intact; 
basement comparatively intact. Will cost 
only $100,000 to restore as formerly. 

No. 5; the St. Francis Hotel: It cost 
$2,500,000; 200 ft. high from sidewalk; ex- 
terior, sandstone; structural steel; interior 
marble, terra cotta, other fine stone. Stood 
shock and fire splendidly without a flaw; 
floors stood well; not cracked or strained; 
all furniture destroyed which cost $200,000 
alone; building can be repaired with com- 
paratively small expense; demonstrates 
what modern building can stand. That new 
part on right hand side under construction 
is to be part of the hotel when finished. 

No. 6 ; Great Union Depot and Ferry land- 
ings; cost over million; structural steel, 
sandstone, marble, terra cotta; stood great 
shock well; escaped the deluge of fire; 
tower damaged and must be rebuilt; photo 
shows when shock stopped clock. 

The new Merchants' Exchange building, 




No. 6.==Tower of Great Ferry Depot«Clock Stopped 
at 5:15 

14 stories high, and costing $3,500,000, is 
structural steel frame, granite, pressed brick, 
terra cotta, marble; very little wood. Stood 
quake and fire splendidly, not all of in- 
terior was burned out. One of the best 
buildings in city. Can be repaired at com- 
paratively small expense. 

The same may be said of the beautiful 
Mills building; Crocker Bank building; 
magnificent Fairmount hotel; Savings Bank 
— all modern structures. A number of new 
buildings in course of construction stood 
the test well; all these are skyscrapers. 
See picture No. 7 for general view of busi- 
ness district. 



♦ • ♦ 



A new steamship line has been started 
to operate out of New Orleans to Rotter- 
dam, with semi-monthly sailings. 



138 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



SPECIALLY BUILT CAR FOR MOVING HUGE 

STERN POST 




Stern Post of New Cunarder Loaded on Special Car 



The huge rudders, stern frames and brack- 
ets for the two new turbine Cunarders, now 
building, were cast at Darlington, England, 
and weighed approximately 220 tons. In 
moving the big castings from Darlington to 



Wallsend and Clydebank a specially con- 
structed trolley car was used. The line was 
cleared on a Sunday and the great weight 
was conveyed safely at a rate of speed not 
exceeding- three miles an hour. 



LARGEST STRUCTURAL STEEL PIECES 
MOVED BY RAIL 



EVER 




Largest Single Structural Steel Pieces Ever Loaded on Cars 



Two cars, each of 150,000 lbs. capacity, 
were required for conveying two huge 30-ton 
steel girders used in the construction of a 
railroad bridge over the Housatonic river. 
The girders were the largest single pieces 
of structural steel ever loaded on a car. 



Each extended 2 ft. below the bottom of ita 
car and towered 14 ft. above the car rails. 
They were held in place by 12xl2-in. tim- 
ber blocking and long steel bars to prevent 
shifting in transit. — Contributed by Cnas.. 
W. Kimble, 417 Market St., Trenton, N. J. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 139 

FIRST STEAMSHIP TO CROSS ATLANTIC 




Courtesy American Shipbuilder 



Pioneer Transatlantic Steamship "Savannah." Built in 1819 



The first steamship to cross the Atlantic 
was the "Savannah," a sailing craft of only 
350 tons, -which was afterward equipped 
with boiler, engine and two side paddle 
wheels. On account of her small size, only 
80 tons of coal was carried, hence a good 
part of the trip was made under sail. 

The "Savannah" left New York on March 
29, 1819, for the city of Savannah, from 
which port she sailed on May 22 for Liver- 
pool. The Atlantic was crossed in 29 days 
11 hours, during which time the engine 
worked 80 hours. 

• In an article on the "Development of 
Steam Navigation" in the Connecticut Mag- 
azine is a quotation from the report of the 
engineer of the "Savannah," He writes that 
as they approached the coast of Ireland, 
they were sighted and supposed to be a ship 
on fire, therefore "admiral dispatched one of 
the king's cutters to her relief. But great 
was their wonder at their inability, with 
all sails set in a fast vessel, to come up with 

a ship under bare poles After several 

shots were fired from the cutter, the engine 
was stopped, and the surprise of her crew 
at the mistake they had made, as well as 
their curiosity to see the singular Yankee 
craft, «an be easily imagined. They asked 
permission to go aboard, and were much 
gratified by the inspection of this naval 
novelty." 

From Liverpool the "Savannah" steamed to 
St. Petersburg, stopping at Copenhagen and 
Stockholm, and everywhere creating great 
excitement, and receiving royal honors. 



A curious feature of the "Savannah" was 
the construction of the paddle wheels which 
were so built that the wheels could be 
quickly folded up like a fan and lifted on 
board. This was to prevent strong waves 
from smashing the wheels. 



DEMANDED DUTY ON RELIEF FIRE 
ENGINE 



A group of buildings at Heuninhen, Ger- 
many, near the German-Swiss frontier, took 
fire recently and a fire engine was sent out 
from Basle, Switzerland. The customs offi- 
cials demanded duty on the engine before it 
crossed the border, and while they parleyed 
the buildings, 100 yds. away, burned to the 
ground. 



A NEW STEEL CITY 



A new steel-working city is being created 
on the shores of Lake Michigan a few miles 
east of Chicago, just over the Indiana state 
line. The entire city will be built starting 
with the bare ground. Mills will be erected 
for the manufacture of all kinds of steel, 
and when completed will employ 15,000 work- 
men. It will be a model city, in which the 
best ideas of the leading experts will be em- 
bodied, and all the public utilities will be 
laid out to best advantage, as there are no 
streets to tear up as yet, and no buildings 
in the way of doing these things right. 



140 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



MAKING BARRELS A WASTEFUL 

INDUSTRY 



Sources of Supply are Being Rapidly Exhausted 



Of the making of barrels, as of books, 
there seems to be no end; nevertheless the 
time is rapidly approaching when the bar- 
rels will either have to be made of other 
material than wood, or go out of existence. 
The "tight" barrel, which in the language of 



the manufacturers is one built to contain liq- 
uids, has for years been made of white oak. 
The supply of this wood is almost exhausted 
in Europe, and it is already becoming scarce 
in this country. Already the stave men 
must go back many miles from railroad or 




A Cut" Split Into Stave Bolts 




Stave Bolt Ready for Cylinder Sa 




The Sawn Bolt 



Finished Stave With Proper 
Bilge and Bevel 





Driving Truss Hoops 




Setting Up a Barrel 



Driving, Iron" Hoops, 




A Bolt for Making Headings 




A Square of Heading! 




The Finished Barrel Head 




Boring and Reaming Bung Hole 



Progress of a Stave From Log to Barrel 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



141 




"THE PLYMOUTH LIMITED" of the Great Western Railroad, England. 
This train makes the longest non=stop run of any in the British Isles ==from 
London to Plymouth, a distance of 246 miles==and the time from starting signal 
in London to full stop in Plymouth is 267 minutes. In many places a speed of 
80 miles an hour is sustained for long stretches. 



river and the cost of getting to transporta- 
tion is felt in increased cost of barrels. 

In an interesting article on barrel mak- 
ing, Wood Craft calls attention to the waste- 
fulness of tight barrel manufacture. The 
white oak staves for these barrels, of which 
200,000,000 are produced in this country an- 
nually, sell for $40 per thousand; while the 
same quality and quantity of oak if sold 
to the furniture maker would bring $80. 

Barrels which in the days of hand labor 
brought $4 now sell for 90 cents owing to 
the invention of machines which assemble 
the staves, form them into shape, insert the 
head", pull on the hoops, bore the bung 
holes, and roll the barrels down into a 
car, without a human hand touching them 
more than once or twice. But these ma- 
chines which do the work which formerly 
would have required a small army of men, 
cannot produce the chief essential — the white 



oak. Long before Mother Earth can be 
coaxed into growing a new crop of trees, 
the inventors will be called on to furnish 
a substitute for the wooden barrel, either 
by making it of other material, such as 
paper, glass or metal; or the barrel will 
retire in favor of some other form of con- 
tainer. The illustrations, showing the prog- 
ress of a stave from the block to the com- 
pleted barrel, we reproduce by courtesy of 
Wood Craft. 

♦ » ♦ 

MILLION FOR SUBMARINES 



One million dollars will probably be placed 
at the disposal of the Secretary of the Navy 
to be expended in advancing the science of 
submarine warfare. Foreign navies are 
pushing actively their submarine work, and 
it is deemed necessary that this country 
must not be left in the rear. 



142 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



FOOD FOR STARVING CREW IN 
MID-ATLANTIC 




Food for a Starving Crew 



A British cruiser recently 
came across a little Por- 
tuguese sailing vessel in 
mid-Atlantic and far out of 
the regular track of ships 
of any sort, which signaled 
that she had no food on 
hoard and asked for imme- 
diate assistance. The sail- 
ing vessel had left the West 
Indies !£, days before with 
a cargo of beans and sugar 
for Lisbon; had been driven 
south by adverse winds and 
had been in the spot where 
found for a month. Food 
giving out, the crew had 
tried to 'subsist on the 
be .ns; one of the men died 
fr jm scurvy. 

The little boat sent to the 
cruiser was loaded with 
provisions — flour, potatoes, 
biscuits, preserved meats 
and other things and the 
emaciated sailors who re- 
ceived it were overjoyed. 
Sailors on the cruiser threw 
tobacco, cigarettes and 
oranges to their fellows in 
misfortune. Then the sail- 
ing vessel, "Louisanito," 
signaled her thanks and the 
cruiser sped on her way. 



WHAT IT COSTS TO SEE AT NIGHT 



The lighting bill in the United States runs 
into millions of dollars every year. It would 
be an interesting sight could one travel in 
a balloon from the Atlantic seacoast west, as 
fast as the shades of night progress, and 
watch the myriads of lights that from city 
streets and farm houses flash and twinkle 
as the evening lamps are lit. 

It has been estimated that the cost of the 
five principal lighting mediums in this coun- 
try for the past year was as follows: 

Electricity $100,000,000 

Oil 60,000,000 

City gas ? 35,000,000 

Acetylene 2,500,000 

Natural gas 1,700,000 



An opportunity is here presented for the 
mathematicians to estimate the number of 
pine knots these nearly two hundred mil- 
lion dollars would pay for, at the price of 
knots in 1800 A. D. 

» • ♦ 

HOUSE=BUILDING UNDER TENT 



In order to complete a costly summer 
home at Lake Geneva, Wis., in time for use 
this season, a novel method was resorted to. 
An enormous circus tent was secured and 
erected over the spot where the building was 
to stand. This was at the beginning of win- 
ter. The tent covered an entire acre, and 
with numerous fires burning constantly the 
work of excavating and foundation laying 
proceeded night and day. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



143 



BUILDING ON SAND AT SAN FRANCISCO 



Sand Foundations Safe--How to Make an Artificial Lake on Sand-Woman's Ingenious 

Method of Building up Residence Lot by Wind and Sand-- 

Actlon of Sand During Earthquake 



By V. W. Killick, San Francisco 



(This extremely interesting account of the writer's 
experience in "sand building" was commenced- before 
the grer.t earthquake of April 18, and completed since 
that date.— Editor.) 



It is said that San Francisco is a city built 
on sand. It has also been predicted that 
some day an earthquake will sink it below 
the sea. The first statement may be modi- 
fied to one-half of the city being built on 
sand; but as to the second, practical ob- 
servation of our great recent earthquake has 
given us greater and wider scientific ideas 



occupied by a shrub-covered sand dune. The 
lake was built in a hollow, making but lit- 
tle excavating necessary. The excavation 
was then covered with a layer of soft clay 
about three inches thick. A roller was run 
over this, after which it was thoroughly 
moistened and again rolled. A second layer 
of clay six inches thick was then laid and 
treated as the first, only it was rolled sev- 
eral times after it was moistened. After 
being allowed to stand some time, it was 
again thoroughly moistened. Artistic rock 




Direction of Rotation 
Sdnd Grains 



C— (o (0(0(0(0(0(0(0(0(0(0 (O-C 

b— o) o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)©)o) o)-i 

Direction of Earth quaKe [//brat/on - 



Fig. 1 



TflS/fz/ttct. 



Showing Effect of Earthquake on Sand 



as well as more confidence in building on 
the sand. 

Long experience in San Francisco has 
proved that sand may be cultivated, irri- 
gated, excavated and built upon much 
cheaper, and with as good and in some cases 
better, results than building on other mate- 
rials. 

First: To prove it may be cultivated I 
might state that the great 1,300-acre Golden 
Gate Park of San Francisco, with its wealth 
of palms and flowers, was entirely cultivated 
out of sand dunes that had been a desert 
waste for hundreds of years. 

Second: It can be irrigated easily, be- 
cause its softness permits quick excavation, 
and by coating the excavation with a thin 
layer of clay, rocks, etc., can be made to 
hold water. A- large five-acre lake in Golden 
Gate Park now stands in the place formerly 



work was added to the banks and the bot- 
tom of the lake covered with beach gravel. 
After being soaked for several days, the lake 
was filled, and it has held water ever since 
— nearly two years. During the dry season, 
on account of its shallowness, evaporation is 
rapid and it is necessary to occasionally add 
a little water to keep it full. 

Third: It is by far more satisfactory to 
build on sand where it is stationary, or can 
be made stationary, than any other material. 
In places like San Francisco, where we have 
frequent earthquakes, it is very advisable to 
build on sand. This statement may sound 
somewhat absurd, but here is the reason for 
it: In the great San Francisco earthquake 
that destroyed much of the city, April 18 
last, it was found that the greatest destruc- 
tion to buildings was in places where the 
foundations were on solid material. The 



144 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



western section of the city, which was al- 
most entirely built on sand, suffered very lit- 
tle loss. Why? 

Look at the diagram (Fig. 1). The large 
arrow indicates the direction of an earth- 
quake vibration. Now, in the case of solid 
material this vibration affects the mass as 
a whole, but in sand the vibration affects the 
mass in layers. As the vibration moves for- 
ward a small belt or layer of sand, repre- 
sented by the dotted line, B, separates, as it 
were, from the main body and the grains 
of sand in the layer commence a rotary mo- 
tion, the direction of which is represented 
by the small arrows. By this motion the 
whole layer moves slightly forward. The 



the sand in the first place is moved, it is 
also returned to its original position unless 
the forward motion of the sand mass is suffi- 
ciently strong to force it over a bank or 
precipice, when its position cannot be con- 
trolled. 

In the western portion of San Francisco 
there is an area of many square miles which 
was nothing but a- sandy waste, with no 
vegetation whatever. It seemed a shame 
such a large portion of the western metropo- 
lis should not be turned to account. One 
man, however, determined to experiment. 
He sunk a well and at a depth of 50 ft. 
found water in one of the most arid places 
on the dunes. He proceeded to build a house 




Shrub laid on the ground 

land Co Heel /an 



Pj g 2 v Or/g/hal 5a nd Lei/el 

'$i&^-Sh*rao fa/serf 

Second Sand Collection 




F/rst Sand Collecfi'on 




Fig. 3 



Fig. 2. «How Sand Level is Elevated Fig. 3.==Further Stage of Elevation 



next strata or layer above, see dotted line, 
C, is in its turn disturbed by the movement 
of the layer of sand beneath it. A rotary 
motion is caused in the grains of sand, but 
the rotations are in a direction opposite to 
that of the layer beneath. By this method 
the whole mass of sand is disturbed on 
much the same principle of ball-bearings, 
and hence the destructive force of an earth- 
quake is greatly diminished on the surface 
of a sand hill. 

But again: By the above mentioned proc- 
ess one would conclude that the sand would 
quickly shift its position and allow a house 
foundation to sink. This is not so. Every 
earthquake vibration has its forward and 
return motion the same as any other vibra- 
tion. In the diagram is shown only the 
forward motion of the vibration. The re- 
turn motion has exactly the same effect 
upon the mass as the forward motion of the 
vibration, except that the direction of all 
rotations is reversed. So we see that where 



on a simple concrete foundation sunk 18 in. 
in the sand. Within six months he had fig 
trees bearing fruit, and vegetables and flow- 
ers growing in abundance. He hardly felt 
the recent terrible earthquake, and his house 
is as solid as ever. 

From this man's experience, several per- 
sons ventured to buy lots close to him and 
try the same scheme. The city had never 
reckoned that the district would ever 
amount to anything, and so had never taken 
the trouble to even establish the standard 
grades for the streets, but as the lots were 
being bought up so rapidly it became neces- 
sary to do so. When a map of the district 
was made several persons who had already 
purchased lots discovered their lots were in 
some cases as much as eight and ten feet 
below the city requirements. Many became 
discouraged, as they did not think it worth 
the cost to haul in the hundreds of wagon- 
loads of sand necessary to make the fill and 
bring their lots up to the street grade; and 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



145 



yet the lots had to be filled in or abandoned. 
While the matter was as yet unsolved, the 
difficulty was overcome in a ridiculously sim- 
ple way by a woman with a large supply of 
good common sense. She had purchased a 
lot which was nearly 15 ft. below the street 
level. For some time she had noticed the 
regularity of the western winds and also 
the surface movement of the sand. One day 
while the gardeners in Golden Gate Park 
were trimming the trees she procured a 
quantity of bushes and branches which the 
men had cut out. These she stuck in the 
sand, weaving the bushes into the branches 
until they formed a small wind-break. At 
the end of one week she found the sand had 
commenced to build up, and each day the 
accumulation was a little larger than the day 
previous. Soon the sand was as high as 
the wind-break, so she pulled it up and 
planted again on the newly made ground, 
and continued to do so until at the end of 
eight months she had brought the level of 
the entire lot up some seven feet. In talking 
with the woman at that time, she said to 



me: "I find the more elevated the lot be- 
comes the more sand it collects, and I be- 
lieve inside another five months my lot will 
be raised the required height." And so it 
proved. The other property owners had fol- 



Bsnk 



layer of Clay 
Second layer of Clay 




::-:Sahd:-:: 



Lake Bed 






Cross=Section of Lake Constructed on Sand 

lowed her example, with results equally sat- 
isfactory. 

To people living on or owning property 
in sandy districts this information should be 
very useful. Experiment and see if you 
cannot turn your sand lot to good account. 



NEW STADIUM FOR OLYMPIC GAMES AT ATHENS 




The Great Olympic Theater Where the International Games are Held 



On the very spot where the old Greek 
Stadium at Athens stood, a new building, 
an exact copy of the first, has bean built, 
and from April 22 to May 2 the famous 
Olympic games were revived there. The 
event included a great variety of contests — 
swimming, long jump, high jump, fencing, 
5-mile race, hurdle race, walking race, etc. — 
and was participated in by champions and 
athletes from all over the world. 

The old Greek theater was laid out about 



330 B. C and games were first held there 
about B. C. 400. The building accommo- 
dated from 40,000 to 50,000 spectators. Pri- 
vate enterprise furnished the funds for the 
new building, which is built of pure white 
pentelic marble, and seats about 60,000. 

♦ » » • 

When all the railroads now building or 
planned in Texas are completed, it will out- 
rank Illinois in mileage by 50 per cent. At 
present Illinois leads. 



146 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



LONQ=DISTANCE TELEPHONE 
PERFECTED 



VESUVIAN ELECTRIC RAILWAY 
WRECKED 



?s the Report of Experts==Adapted From the Violin 



The report comes from San Francisco that . 
David C. St. Charles has succeeded in so per- 
fecting a long-distance telephone that con- 
versation between New York and the Golden 



The electric railway that winds up the 
lava-swept sides of old Vesuvius and which 
has carried thousands of tourists to the 
cone every year since its construction has 
been abandoned, and is partially destroyed. 
The electric railway was built several years 




Climbing the Cone =Naples and Bay in Distance 



Gate will not only be possible, but per- 
formed without the use of a stronger elec- 
trical current than for a short line. The 
inventor states he has found the secret in 
the sounding-board of the violin. For years 
he has made fine violins as a recreation. 
The details are not given out, but the in- 
strument is intended to be placed midway 
and not at terminals. Its action is said to 
be a forcing of the sound wave forward, and 
preventing its rebound toward the sender, 
♦ « ♦ 

BIGGEST GUN IN THE WORLD 
PROVES A FAILURE 



The biggest gun in the world, and which, 
as might be expected, was invented and 
built in this country, has definitely been de- 
clared unsafe, and will go to the scrapheap. 
As only one of these mammoths was built, 
and that as an experiment, the loss is com- 
paratively small, even though it is about 
$100,000. 

This gun was fully described in these 
pages at the time of its completion. It was 
constructed to shoot a 16-in. projectile a dis- 
tance of 21 miles, even though it would be 
impossible to ever hit a mark at such range. 

The big gun was found to be unsafe after 
a few firings, and really was as dangerous 
to our own folks as it was expected to be to 
an enemy. Twelve-inch guns are likely to 
be the limit for a long time, and certainly 
until some gun metal not now known is dis- 
covered. 



ago and cost, including cars, track construc- 
tion and power house, $250,000, or $50,000 a 
mile. The cost of repairs is very high also, 
owing to deposits of lava at the upper por- 
tion. 

The generating station which operates the 
cars by the overhead system is located near 
Pugliano, 319 ft. above sea level, from which 
point the electric route winds upward. Ap- 
proaching the Royal Observatory — 2,000 ft. 
above sea level — the gradient becomes so 
steep that the funicular system of cog- 
wheels is used for that section. After pass- 
ing the observatory the rack is dispensed 
with and the electric line crosses a great 
lava area until it reaches the bottom of the 
old funicular railway — built 23 years ago — 
which climbs. the cone to within a few hun- 
dred feet of the crater of the volcano. 




Removing Ashes in Naples 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



147 



The total length of the electrically oper- 
ated sections of the line is nearly five miles 
and the trip over these portions is made in 
about 50 minutes. The electric locomotive 




Foot of Lava Field 

used has two motors of 85-hp. capacity each; 
the cars weigh somewhat less than nine tons 
each and each car is divided into three com- 
partments, seating eight passengers. 

The cable, or old funicular line, begins at 
a point 2,603 ft. above sea level and rises 
to a height of 3,874 ft. with grades varying 
from 35 to 65 per cent. Each car carries 21 
passengers. 

The devastation of the districts surround- 
ing Vesuvius and the terror of the natives, 
who have been obliged to abandon every- 
thing and flee before the fury that no earthly 
power could stay, passes description. Bushels 
of ashes are daily swept up and removed 
from the streets of the city of Naples, and 
our readers are already familiar with the 
catastrophe that resulted in the market-place 
when the roof collapsed under the weight of 
ashes and hundreds of women and children 
were buried in the ruins. At Ottojano, one 
of the villages destroyed by the eruption, 
during the work of recovering the dead from 
the debris, two aged women who had been 



entombed six days were found. These women 
had subsisted on some scraps of bread, and, 
though weak and speechless when taken out, 
revived under the ministrations of the res- 
cuers. 



MEASURING GRAIN WITH A METER 



The latest method of measuring grain in 
a mill or elevator is by means of a meter, 
which measures the grain passing through 
and figures up the result quite as a gas 
meter registers the amount of gas. One 
of these grain meters will measure 5,000 bu. 
an hour, and when set in operation will con- 
tinue its work indefinitely and without any 
further attention. 

What the visitor sees in watching one of 
these machines is three metal hoppers, one 
above another, with the smallest at the top. 
The upper hopper remains stationary and 
serves to guide the grain into the second, 
which, when it becomes full, empties into 




Measures 5,000 Bushels an Hour 

the third. At intervals which do not con- 
flict with the movements of the middle hop- 
per, the third hopper discharges and makes 
the record. 

♦ • ♦ 

The metric bill will not come out of the 
congressional committee this session, hence 
no action need be expected. 



148 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



INCIDENTS OF THE SAN FRANCISCO 
EARTHQUAKE 



Great interest has been centered in the 
modern steel structures, which seem to have 
withstood the shock with unexpected 




Comparative Area of Three Great Fires 

strength, although afterwards ruined by the 
flames. The report of the expert builders 
will not be ready for another month, when 
important data may be expected. 

Had the destruction ended with the earth- 
quake, the disaster, while great, would have 
been small compared to the devastation by 
fire which immediately followed. Buildings 
containing steam boilers, which went down 
at once broke into flames; matches even ig- 
nited in the crush and started other fires; 
and in a large number ef instances live elec- 
tric wires, whose insulations were torn off, 
or which parted, thus exposing bare ends, 
continued to furnish a flame which was 
soon lost in a conflagration. In Oakland and 



San Jose, the railway and lighting plants 
were instantly shut down, which accounts 
for the comparative immunity from fire in 
these two cities. In San Francisco there 
seems to have been some delay in shutting 
off the current. 

The reservoirs which contain the water 
supply are located some miles away, and 
the mains were broken by the shock, thus 
rendering the fire department helpless ex- 
cept along the water front, where salt water 
was available from the bay. Splendid work 
was done along the docks and the great 
Ferry building, the gateway of San Fran- 
cisco, saved. In one instance a fire which 
had made a good start was extinguished by 
breaking in the heads of great casks of wine 
which was dipped out with pails, and the 
building saved. It has been suggested that 
a water system for fire service may now 
be built in which salt water can be pumped 
through steel pipes laid on or close to the 
surface; the steel pipes being expected to 
resist much greater shock than the ordinary 
cast-iron pipes, which readily open at the 
joints, whereas the steel pipes would be 
joined by extra large unions screwed on to 
extra heavy threads. 

The promptness with which the water 
companies restored service solved the most 
serious trouble of the afflicted city, and came 
as a great relief to the entire country. 

The railroad service for the city is 
chiefly from across the bay, passengers and 
freight cars being brought over in the larg- 
est ferries in the world. The promptness 
and efficiency of the steam transportation 
lines was something surprising and demon- 
strated an organization fully equal in its 
way to that of the regular army. The relief 
trains which started within a few hours 
from all parts of the country, together with 
the national response with contributions of 
money from millionaire to newsboy, pre- 
sented a picture of American sympathy and 
energy which could not have ' been dupli- 
cated by any other nation in the world. The 
prompt efficiency of the relief movement was 
emphatically American, and characteristic 
of the American way of doing things in an 
emergency. But for this instant action thou- 
sands would have lost their lives. 

The telegraph service for some days was 
confined to press and official messages, and 
under the circumstances was very good. 
While the wires were closed to private mes- 
sages, one man in San Francisco used the 
Pacific cable and sent a message to rela- 
tives in Berlin, who in turn repeated the 
message over an Atlantic cable and thence 
to Los Angeles, where his family were 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



149 



staying. This message made the complete 
circuit of the globe in transmission from 
'Frisco to Los Angeles, a distance of 482 
miles. 

The use of artillery in leveling buildings 
in an attempt to check the passage of the 
fire was something which rarely occurs, and 
we believe has not been resorted to in this 
country since the Chicago fire. Among the 
discoveries after the fire was an extensive 
system of underground passages extending 
through Chinatown, a veritable catacombs 
two and three stories underground. 

A notable feature of the commissary work 
was the equipment, at Los Angeles, of the 
longest mess train in the world. Thirty 
cars were hastily rebuilt and equipped as 
kitchens and bakeries, and provided with 
facilities for cooking and serving 20,000 
meals a day. When one considers that 100 
meals is a good day's work for the average 
palace dining car, the performance of this 
great "cook train" is better appreciated. 

The automobile made a new record for it- 
self. One of the first orders when Gen. Fun- 
ston took charge was to confiscate all the 
automobiles in town, to be used in ambu- 
lance and relief work. Several new machines 
were discovered in freight cars, and these 
were run out and put to work. 

The work of the regulars, disciplined, sea- 
soned men, was of incalculable benefit, and 
abundantly demonstrated the value of a 
standing army in times of peace. To these 
men, trained to stand under fire, there was 
no occasion for excitement when marched 
into a burning city shaking with earth- 
quakes. In no war could Gen. Funston per- 
form a greater service than he did there. 

The earthquake, like a cyclone, played 
many curious freaks. For instance, in the 
midst of ruined four-story buildings stood a 
house of three stories, which had been lifted 
on jack screws and timbers to make room 
for another story beneath it. It stood ap- 
parently unharmed by the shock. Not a 
piece of the underpinning was displaced. 
One of the churches on Van Ness avenue had 
a mosque-like dome. The building was 
down, all the walls falling away, but the 
steel structure, invisible at a distance, re- 
mained supporting the dull gray dome, 
which seemed floating in the air' like a bal- 
loon. 

The rebuilding of the city, to which its 
citizens have already set themselves with 
western courage and energy, affords an op- 
portunity which has no parallel in modern 
times. The destruction w?.s so complete and 
covered so large an area that it is now pos- 
sible to lay out a really large city along 



twentieth century ideas and ideals. Whether 
it will be found practicable to do so remains 
to be seen. Be that as it may, the more im- 
portant thing is the restoration of a great 
city at the Golden Gate, and in the accom- 
plishment of this, which will be done with 
true western intenseness of activity, the 
builders of the new city will have the sym- 
pathy and assistance of the civilized world. 
♦ • ♦ 

AUTOMATIC CAB SIGNAL FOR 
LOCOMOTIVES 



A new automatic cab signal is applicable 
to both single and double-track roads and 
operates in conjunction with either disc or 
semaphore automatic signals, or with the 
manual block system, or independently of 
the same. It can be operated with storage 
batteries, gravity batteries, direct or alter- 



■f 

g 




JKk Wuf 6 


' 


-jm 




I 


\\ 1 




< *f 



Both Signals at Safety 

nating current power plants, and it is used 
with an automatic stop. 

The illustration shows the mechanism 
that is placed in the locomotive cab, consist- 
ing of the signal indicator and a power unit. 
It will indicate a train in advance in the 
first, second, third or fourth blocks, as de- 
sired. It gives clear, caution and danger 
indications the same as the disc or sema- 
phore signals, and if the automatic stop de- 
vice is used it opens the air valve and 
brings the train to a service stop, if the en- 
gineer does not regard the signal as soon as 
it is given him. As shown the signal is in 
the normal clear position, both signal blades 
down and both lights white. If a train 
should be in the second, third or fourth 
block in advance, the caution signal blade 
is thrown to the horizontal position and the 
light on the left side is changed from white 
to green. When the engine proceeds to the 
entrance of the next block, if the train or 



150 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



obstruction is within the first, second or 
third block in advance, the danger signal 
blade on the right side rises to the horizon- 
tal position and the light on the right side 
shows red. At this instant the automatic 
stop device is thrown into operation, as al- 



ready described. Neither of these signals 
can be thrown to the clear position by the 
engineer until he has brought his train to 
a full stop, when the signals go back to the 
normal position to operate as the next block 
end is passed. 



LAKE'S NEW EVEN=KEEL SUBMARINE 




Even=Keel Submarine Boat "Lake" on Launching Ways 



Copyright by Lake Co. 



The latest of the Lake company's subma- 
rines is shown in the illustration, which is 
from a photograph as she rested on the 
launching ways just before going into the 
water. A bill is pending to purchase the 
boat. Should -our Government decide not to 
do so, the submarine will be immediately 
sent across the Atlantic under her own 
power for delivery to some European power. 
The price of the boat is $275,000. 

Details are most carefully guarded, but 
the following features are given out for pub- 
lication. The boat is 85 ft. long; submerged 
displacement is 220 tons; has twin screws; 
three torpedo tubes; guide wheels for run- 
ning on the bottom; gasoline carried out- 
side of spindle hull, eliminating danger 
from explosions; means for escape of crew 
in event of disablement of boat; greater 
deck space than any other submarine; abil- 
ity to charge storage batteries and air 
flasks while cruising; magnetic influence of 
steel hull on the compass practically elim- 
inated; and ability to reload torpedo tubes 
while submerged, under way. 



Some of the conditions of the test are: 
Submerge to depth of 125 ft.; to run sub- 
merged at sea for a distance of 15 knots 
without coming to the surface except for ob- 
servation with the omniscope; endurance 
test of 400 miles at sea under her own power, 
without convoy; to fire torpedoes while sub- 
merged and reload and fire; to remain at 
sea three days without convoy; to have a 
member of crew leave through the diver's 
door while the boat is entirely submerged; 
to establish and pick up under water cable 
and hold telephone conversation with the 
shore; to remain submerged two days with 
only the sighting instrument occasionally 
out of water. These and other equally se- 
vere requirements constitute the most diffi- 
cult test to which a submarine boat has 
ever been submitted. The boat company are 
granted one month in which to train a crew 
of United States naval officers and men to 
handle the boat during the test. If the boat 
meets these conditions the Government is to 
purchase her; and additional and larger 
boats of the same type are to be purchased. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



151 



QUARRYING ICE==A NEW INDUSTRY 



WORKING MODEL OF TRACTION 

ENGINE BUILT BY AMATEUR 



The great glacier on Mt. Blanc is being 
used for other purposes than furnishing an 
occupation to guides and an attraction for 
tourists. An ice trust has gone into the 
business on an extensive scale of quarrying 
the clear, hard ice, at an altitude of 4,000 ft. 
The ice is blown out in great blocks by 
means of dynamite, after which it is sawed 
into regular sizes and sent down the moun- 
tain on a narrow-gauge railway. Down in 
the valley it is loaded into freight cars and 
distributed through southern France. A 
warm winter has no terrors for the Mt. 
Blanc ice-man, he invests no money in ice- 
houses, and the supply is inexhaustible. 



Back of my jewelry store and optical par- 
lor, in the city of Braymer, Mo., I have 
fitted up a little factory where every eve- 
ning I spend a couple of hours in manufac- 
turing horological tools of my own inven- 
tion and doing model work. Here I built 
my complete working model of a traction 
engine, which in every detail is like the big 
12-hp. engines of its type. The equipment 
of my factory includes a 5-hp. gasoline en- 
gine, a 2 k. w. compound generator, two 
motors, a screw-cutting, lathe, two watch- 
makers' lathes, and a number of other spe- 
cial machines, such as milling and grind- 
ing machines of my own design and make. 

My work in this line began with a great 
desire to become a finished mechanic. Four- 
teen years ago I made a watch-maker's 




Working Model Traction Engine==l,350 Pieces 



NEW ATLANTIC RECORD IN SPEED 
AND WIRELESS 



The Atlantic steamship record was low- 
ered 10 minutes by the new French liner "La 
Provence," on her maiden trip from Havre to 
New \ork. Time was 5 days 9 hours and 
10 minutes. A new record in wireless was 
also made on this voyage, the steamer being 
in communication with both shores at the 
same time. 

♦ » ♦ 

The dry dock Dewey reached the Suez 
canal on April 26. The dredgers had not 
finished and a delay of six days resulted. 



bench, composed of 2,500 pieces, and lathe 
and began repairing watches and clocks. 
From that time I have been a reader of the 
best horological and scientific papers, but 
I never worked as an apprentice in my life. 
In building this traction engine model I 
experienced many difficulties. It is nearly 
all built-up work, the three elbows in the 
steam pipe being the only castings used. It 
is built to the exact scale of a 12-hp. engine 
— iy 2 in. to the foot, or one-eighth size — 
and is composed of 1,350 pieces: 882 pieces 
in the two rear wheels, 41 pieces in the 
differential gearing, 30 flues, water and 
steam gauges, governor, safety valve, lubri- 
cator, pump and whistle. Many special tools 



152 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



were required in its construction, all of 
■which I made on the lathe. 

I could not procure a glass tuhe 1-16 in. in 
diameter for the water gauge and so had to 
draw one out of a ^-in. tube. The engine 
that this model represents is set to carry 
130 lbs. pressure to the square inch. It 
would have been much easier to have made 
this steam gauge register 130 actual pounds 
to the square inch, but it was not desirable 




Lathe on Which Engine was Built 

to carry such a high pressure on the 
model, so I concluded to increase the regis- 
tration as many times as I decreased the 
size of the gauge, which is one-eighth, or to 
about the size of a dime. This gauge is of 
the drawn-tube type and the tube is drawn 
very thin. The internal diameter is 1-1,000 in. 
by 3-32 in. and even then it was necessary 
to use compound rack and pinions, so when 
the gauge shows 130 there is 16% lbs. actual 
pressure and the pop valve acts. 

The differential gearing was quite a diffi- 
cult piece of work, as I made the milling 
machine and wheel cutters to make all of 
the gears. The time occupied in building 
the model, including the many dies and 
gigs, was about ten months, working at odd 
times and after lamplight. — Contributed by 
S. M. Coffman, Braymer, Mo. 



FIRST AMERICAN=BUILT TURBINE 
VESSEL 



The first turbine-propelled steamship 
built in the United States was launched 
at Roach's shipyard, Chester, Pa., April 
21st. The name of the vessel is "Governor 
Cobb." Her dimensions are: Length over 



all, 300 ft; beam over guards, 55 ft.; depth, 
20 ft. 6 in.; draught loaded, 14 ft. 

The "Governor Cobb" is a double bot- 
tom steel ship, having a main, saloon, gal- 
lery and dome deck. There will be 175 
staterooms and 200 berths. All the modern 
appliances — steam steering gear, electric 
lights, call bells, etc. — will be provided. The 
motive power will consist of a set of Par- 
sons marine steam turbines; the maximum 
working steam pressure will be 150 lbs. 



FALSE 



CONSTRUCTION IN 
WINDOW GRATINGS 



BANK 



The impression of strength and massive- 
ness generally produced by bank gratings, 
bolts, bars, etc., is, in many cases, simply 
the result of appearance. The accompany- 
ing illustration shows a form of grating 
used in a New York bank, and described 
in Machinery. 

The iron bushings, A B, are sunk into 
the stone as shown at C. These bushings 
slide on the rod, D, the length of which 
is a little less than the width of the win- 
dow, so that if the bushings are moved to- 
ward the center of the window, the whole 
grating can be removed, as readily as it was 
erected. 

Gratings of this kind are often used in 




Looks Secure==Is Not 

buildings which have been previously 
erected, but in buildings which are under 
course of construction, bars are used, which 
are longer than the width of the window. 
It would not be surprising if thermit or 
electric- welding were to be used for weld- 
ing the bushings to the bars. The device 
shown would then be nearly as strong as 
solid bars. 

♦ • ♦ 

A wonderful compound is reported from 
Europe which is claimed to convert the ex- 
haust from an auto into the odor of choice 
flowers. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



153 




ENGLISH BOAT RACING EVENT==The Oxford and Cambridge boat crews 
held their annual racing event April 7. The rival crews were well matched 
and the contest promised to be a close one. Cambridge led from the start, how= 
ever, and came out three and one=ha!f lengths ahead. 



CURIE, DISCOVERER OF RADIUM, 
KILLED 



Prof. Pierre Curie, who, with his wife, 
was a co-discoverer of the wonderful ele- 
ment, radium, was run down by a dray in 
a Paris street on April 19 and killed. Prof. 
Curie and his wife began their search for 
radium in 1895, and in 1898 their labor was 
rewarded. The great scientist refused all 
public distinction in honor of his discovery, 
and up to his death was actively and unre- 
mittingly engaged in scientific research. He 
was 43 years of age. 

♦-•-♦ 

RAISING A LAKE STEAMER 



The lake steamer "W. E. ■ Corey," which 
went aground on Gull Island, Lake Superior, 
last November, was raised in remarkably 
quick time by ten 11-in. and ten 9%-in. 
Westinghouse air-brake pumps. The pumps 
were distributed along the deck of the ves- 
sel and connected to force air into thirteen 
of the air-tight compartments in the vessel 



to displace the water. During this proceed- 
ing boilermakers repaired leaks as fast as 
they discovered them, patching and using 
cement. This work took eight days, then 
all the pumps were set to work forcing air 
into the compartments. 

From 3 p. m. of one day to 7:30 a. m. of 
the next day 600 tons of water were removed 
by the twenty pumps and the vessel was 
raised 4 ft., so that she could be pulled into 
deep water. 



$50,000,000 A YEAR PROPOSED FOR 
GOOD ROADS 



Representative Gordon Lee, of Georgia, in 
a recent speech at Washington, declared 
that, according to estimates of the secre- 
tary of agriculture, the cost and extra bur- 
dens imposed upon this country by bad 
roads is not less than $600,000,000 an- 
nually; and although a former bill for $25,- 
000,000 annually was defeated, he proposed 
an appropriation of $50,000,000 a year, until 
the work had reached a satisfactory stage. 



154 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



THE PRIME MOVER OF THE FUTURE 



[Extracts from an address by C. E. Sargent before 
the Western Society of Engineers.] 

The economy of the internal combustion 
engine has been recognized from its incep- 
tion. Both the theoretical and practical effi- 
ciency of this type of prime mover is from 
two to five times greater than that of the 
average externally fired heat engine. The 
smallest gas engines have a thermal effi- 
ciency from 20 to 24 per cent, while the 
largest steam engine with all modern re- 
finements known to the art, does remarka- 
bly well to turn into work 12 per cent of the 
heat supplied to the furnace under normal 
conditions. 

A plant recently tested by the writer in 
which producer gas from anthracite culm 
was used, showed the cost of fuel per horse- 
power hour to be about 1.5 mills. By selling 
the by-products of the bituminous gas pro- 
ducers at the market price, a recent writer 
in "Power" claims that power from gas 
engines can be generated 14 per cent cheaper 
than from water falls. 

The first cost of a large gas engine plant, 
including producers, coal handling appa- 
ratus, piping, scrubbers, cleaners, building, 
compressor and engines, is not far from 
that of a steam plant complete, including 
boilers, engines, pumps, condensers, chim- 
ney, piping and all accessories, so we can 
assume the first cost the same in each case. 
Gas engines do not wear out any quicker nor 
do they need any more repairs than steam 
engines. Gas producers are long lived, the 
apparatus requiring but little attention and 
few repairs. The Brie R. R. Co. have had 
two 200-hp. producers in operation at Jer- 
sey City for seven years, and the fire in one 
has never been out. Imagine the condition 
of a boiler after such a run. 

Whe>n compressed air is available, and all 
large units use this medium, gas engines of 
any size can be started and can take the 
full load in two minutes' time, as no warm- 
ing up or cylinder draining is necessary. 
The waste heat, about 70 per cent of the 
heat supplied, can be used for heating, and 
a higher temperature can be maintained 
than with the heat from a steam engine 
exhaust. If the internal combustion engine 
has so many advantages over steam, why, 
then, has it not had greater development? 
Why are we not using gas engines in our 
large power plants? Why are we using 
40,000 b. t. u. instead of 10,000 b. t. u. in 



generating a brake horsepower? Why are 
we burning 400 cu. ft. of waste gases under 
our boilers to evaporate sufficient water for 
a horsepower hour when 100 cu. ft. burned 
behind the piston would do the same work? 
Simply because the American manufacturers 
have not kept pace with the development of 
the gas engine as a prime mover. 

Five years ago when Mr. Henry Wehrum, 
who has probably done more to introduce 
the gas engine for power for steel mill work 
in the United States than any other man, 
wanted one and two thousand horsepower 
gas engines for the Lackawanna Steel Com- 
pany's plant at Buffalo, there was prac- 
tically but one engine obtainable and that 
of foreign make. A few months ago when 
the Carnegie Company wanted engines of 
the same size for the Edgar Thomson works, 
twelve proposals were received from Ameri- 
can manufacturers. 

+-++ 

MECHANICAL FLORICULTURE 



Many artistic floral designs can be made by 
means of paper strips to hold the seed. The 
paper should be soft and thin — newspaper 
will do — and should be cut in strips about 
1% in. wide. Spread a little paste or mucil- 
age along the center of each strip, and 
sprinkle the seeds all over the surface. Then 
when the paper strip is lifted, all the seeds 
will fall off except those held by the paste,, 
and the strips will look like A in the sketch.. 




Mechanical Floriculture 

Then fold along the center, as shown at B, 
and put away to dry. 

The strips thus prepared are susceptible- 
to many artistic designs, and can easily be 
planted in any form by bending. After the 
paper has been in the ground for some time 
it dissolves and leaves the plants standing, 
as shown at C. — Contributed by F. H. Welb, 
Claverack, N. Y. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



155 



TUNNEL 



WHITEWASHED EVERY STARTLING ELECTRICAL DEMON= 
NIGHT STRATION 



The London twopenny tube is white- 
washed every night. After the passenger 
traffic has ceased the car shown in the illus- 
tration passes through the tube. This car 




Tunnel Whitewasher 

carries a huge tank of whitewash and as it 
moves along an electric pump forces the 
whitewash through the web of pipes at the 
end of the car, spraying it over every part 
of the tunnel. 

♦-«-♦ 

SWISS TORPEDO=BOAT BOBSLEIGH 



Many unusual snow craft are seen on the 
toboggan courses of Switzerland during the 
season, but probably the most novel and at- 
tractive during the past winter was a tor- 




On Swiss Toboggan Runs 

pedo-boat bobsleigh. This sleigh was rigged 
up "true to life" by two boys: Only girls 
and hoys in naval costume were permitted 
to come aboard for a sail. 



Wonders of High Frequency Current Which Melts 
Wire while Passing Through Human Body 



A direct current of 250 volts has been 
known to cause death, but several hundred 
thousand volts of high frequency alternating 
current may be passed through the body 
without the slightest tremor being felt, says 
The Electric City. 

In high frequency electricity the current 
changes its direction of flow from 50,000 to 
300,000 times in one second, which is very 
different from ordinary alternating currents, 




Lighting an Incandescent Lamp by Current (From Os= 
dilator) Passing Through Two Human Bodies 

which usually change direction about 120 
times a second, and are deadly. 

Common alternating currents are also 
much more fatal than direct currents of the 
same voltage, while in high frequency elec- 
tricity the current is reversed with such 
great rapidity that it does not flow long 
enough in one direction for the nerves to 
respond to it. It takes a definite fraction of 
a second for even the human nerve to be 
capable of feeling. 

The properties of high frequency currents 
were clearly demonstrated by Mr. W. J. 
Clark, of New York, at the recent Electrical 
Show in Chicago. 

Mr. Clark showed how harmless these cur- 
rents are by lighting an ordinary incandes- 



156 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



cent lamp by the current passing through 
his own body and that of an assistant. The 
amount of current which passed was % . 
ampere, which is twice as much as has been 
required to produce death in some cases of 
electrocution. 

In another experiment Mr. Clark replaced 
the incandescent lamp with a piece of fine 
wire, which was actually melted by the cur- 
rent passing through the bodies of two men. 

♦-*-♦ 

LARGEST CAMERA IN THE WORLD 



AN IMMENSE STORAGE DAM 



Operator Inside While Taking the Picture 

This camera, which is three times as large 
as any other in the world, is owned by Prof. 
G. R. Lawrence, of Chicago. With it sev- 
eral noted pictures have been taken, in- 
cluding bird's-eye views of factories and 
towns. It is also used for 
enlarging other pictures. 

The body of the camera 
is 9 ft. 4 in. wide, 6 ft. 
high, and 20 ft. long, when 
fully extended, and in its 
construction over 30 gals, 
of glue were used. The 
lens is 12 in. diameter 
and cost $1,500. All mov- 
ing parts, including the 
curtain slide, run on roller 
bearings. The focusing 
is done by two panels of 
glass, which can be moved 
to all parts of the field. 

The plate holder weighs 
nearly 500 lbs., when 
loaded, and is put into the 
camera by means of a der- 
rick. Great care is used 
in loading, as a broken 
plate would result in the 
loss of $150. The plates 
are made of plate glass, 8 
ft. long by 4 ft. 8 in. wide, and weigh over 
200 lbs. 

In order to dust the plates, a man enters 
the camera through an opening in the front. 
A piece of ruby glass is then placed over 
the lens, and the slide in the plate holder 
is withdrawn. After the plate has been 
dusted, the slide is replaced and the man 
steps out. 

In making enlargements, the focusing is 
done from the inside and the operator re- 
mains in the camera during the exposure. 
In this process the entire apparatus is sup- 
ported by springs, which absorb any possi- 
ble vibration. 



Plans have just been completed by the 
Spring Valley Water Company, of San Fran- 
cisco, for the construction of a $2,000,000 
dam across Calaveras Creek, in Alameda 
county, to store the water of both Alameda 
and Calaveras creeks and the water shed to 
which they are tributary. The dam is in- 
tended to augment the Alameda water sup- 
ply of the company. The plans call for a 
concrete dam that will be 100 ft. high, 200 
ft. thick at the base, and 25 ft. wide at 
the tcp. It will be 800 ft. long. Work on 
this giant dam will be commenced at once, 
and pushed forward to an early completion. 
A large force of workmen will be employed. 
Reinforced concrete will be used, and 
the work will require vast quantities of 




When Fully Extended, It is 20 ft. Long" 

cement, gravel, sand and corrugated iron 
rods. This dam will be among the largest 
and highest built on the Pacific coast, and 
its construction will require nearly a year. 

*-+-* 

AMERICAN MODEL ENGINEERS 
ORGANIZE SOCIETY 



The American Society of Model Engineers 
held their first meeting at the Gilsey House, 
New York, on April 18. The following offi- 
cers were elected: President, Mr. P. W. 
Geissenhainer; vice-president, Mr. E. B. 
Frank; secretary and treasurer, Mr. W. E, 
Spon, 123 Liberty St., New York. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



157 




TUG STRONGER THAN LOCOMOTIVE 



The horsepower of the average tug is 
much less than the average locomotive, but 
still its pulling force is greater. The pull 
of a locomotive, under favorable conditions, 
is one-third to one-quarter of the weight on 
the drivers, and could not be increased with 
any amount of power, as an increase in 
power would simply cause the drivers to slip 
on the track. For this reason, in designing 
locomotives the cylinders are so propor- 
tioned that the force produced is barely suf- 
ficient to cause the drivers to slip. The pull 
or traction force of a locomotive is not the 
same as the load it can move, but is the 
weight it could lift with a rope, passed 
from the drawbar, over a large pulley. 



The pull of a tug depends on the size of 
engine and propeller and the pitch of the 
propeller blades. 

Mr. D. F. Murphy, the master mechanic 
of the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, 
has found that a 760-hp. tug will break a 
7%-in. rope with a steady pull, while many 
locomotives of double this horsepower could 
not break it without having a start. 

When the motion of a tug is retarded its 
force becomes enormous. The tugs used 
for breaking ice in rivers sometimes en- 
counter sheets of ice so thick that they will 
not orack immediately. The pressure of the 
prow then actually pulverizes the ice for a 
short distance and discharges it vertically. 



NEW ELECTRICAL WELDING PROCESS 



There are three general methods of mak- 
ing welded rail joints. In one method, cast- 
iron is poured around the joint, the molten 
iron being obtained from a portable cupola. 
In another method the rails are fused to- 
gether by a high amperage alternating cur- 
rent, generated in a transformer. "When 
thermit was discovered another process of 
welding was developed, the ends of the rails 
being fused together by the heat of the 
thermit. 

In a new system of rail welding, developed 
in Germany, and described in the Street 
Railway Journal, the heat is derived from a 
naming arc, which allows the use of a direct 
current. The positive wire is attached to 
the carbon, and the negative wire is at- 
tached to the rail. The carbon is guided by 
a holder, which is moved by hand, and the 
arc produced is fed with steel, which melts 
and runs -into a mold surrounding the joint. 
At the same time the ends of the rails be- 



come fused and unite, thus forming a per- 
fect joint. 

The current is taken from a trolley wire 
and is reduced from 550 volts to 60 volts by 
the apparatus shown in the sketch. The 
large wagon contains a motor dynamo, and 
the other contains an auxiliary storage bat- 
tery, which is connected in parallel with 




Rail Welding: Outfit 

the generator. In using the apparatus the 
wagons are placed at the side of the tracks 
to be welded, and a wire hooked on the trol- 
ley wire. When a car approaches this can 



158 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



be removed, thus allowing the use of the 
line at all times. 

This method of welding is not confined en- 
tirely to rail joints, but has also been used 
in welding and repairing machine parts. 
Steam engine cylinders, power shears and 
other large welds have been successfully 
made, and it has proved to be a good method 
of repairing broken gears. 



WHAT HEAT IS DEADLY? 



CABLE CAR IN BIG GREENHOUSE 



There are many factors to take into con- 
sideration in answering this question. Per- 
sons can stand a very high temperature for 
a short length of time. For instance: A 
temperature applied externally to the limbs 
for the cure of rheumatism can be raised 
considerably above the boiling point of water 
without injuring the patient. This is un- 
doubtedly due to the protective action of 
the perspiration. 



At a large fio- 
r i s t ' s establish- 
ment in Massa- 
chusetts, where 
thousands of East- 
er lilies are 
grown every year, 
an ingenious 
method of moving 
the plants, either 
about the place or 
to send them to 
the market, is em- 
ployed. All the 
greenhouses are 
connected by a 
wide covered shed 
in which a large 
cable car is oper- 
ated The plants 
to be moved are 
loaded on hand 
trucks, and these 
trucks, several at 
a time, are run 
upon the cable car 
which hauls them 
to the packing 
rooms, or to the 
teams. This 
spring the 35,000 
fine plants in full 
bloom was a 
beautiful sight; as 
large numbers of 
these potted 




Cable Railway in a Greenhouse 



plants were sold the cable car system of 
handling them saved a great deal of time 
and avoided injury to the lilies as well. 



A very satisfactory soft solder consists of 
a mixture of 2 parts tin and 1 part lead. 



♦ • ♦ 



Last year there was used in the manufac- 
ure of veneer stock 138,646,000 ft, log meas- 
ure; cut from American woods. 



If a person has plenty of water to drink, 
he can accustom himself to very high tem- 
peratures. Take, for instance, the workers 
around the iron and steel mills. These 
people work in temperatures so high that if 
they wear glasses the hot metal of the 
frames has been known to burn their faces. 
Of course, one must become accustomed to 
such excessive temperatures, and they are 
always very exhausting. — Contributed by 
Dr. Max D. Slimmer. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



159 



ELECTRICAL STAMPING MACHINE THE SELF-PROPELLED FIRE ENGINE 



Used by the German Post Department 



Will it Be Steam, Gasoline or Electric? 



Stamping letters by electricity is the im- 
proved method used in the German post- 




stamps 108,000 Letters an Hour 

office. A new machine, the invention of a 
Norwegian named Krag, has been introduced 




Steam Self=PropelIer*=Boston. 

and it will stamp 108,000 letters an hour. 

*-•-♦ 

A superior quality of tooth picks is now 
^manufactured from swamp reeds. 



The success of the motor truck has sug- 
gested to the minds of many the application 
of a self propelling device for fire engines. 
The idea is not a new one, self propelled 
fire engines having been used in Chicago as 
early as 1877. Three of these machines were 
in service for two years, when they were 
removed from the department on account of 
scaring horses. They were steam machines 
and driven from the pumping engine. The 
exhaust passed up through the stack like 
a locomotive and on one occasion the flood of 
sparks emitted started half a dozen fires in 
an attempt to extinguish one. 

The machine illustrated is propelled by 
steam but has many modern improvements 
and has been successfully used in the Boston 
fire department. Gasoline machines have 
been used in which the same engine does 
the propelling and pumping, but have not 
yet met with the approval of the chiefs of 
fire departments. Possibly this type of ma- 
chine will be improved in the near future 
as it does away with the objectionable 
boiler. Electrical fire engines \ave been ex- 
perimented with, in which a storage battery 
furnishes the power to drive the machine to 
the fire, after which the current is taken 
from the nearest trolley 
wire. This system has 
been pronounced as ideal 
by leading fire experts, the 
only disadvantage being 
the weight of the storage 
battery- 
Automobiles are fast 
coming into use by chiefs 
of fire and police depart- 
ments, and fast traveling 
fire insurance patrols, po- 
lice wagons and ambu- 
lances have proved equal 
to all demands. The fire 
engine will not long be 
limited in its movements 
to the strength of horses. 
It has been suggested that 
an engine could be pro- 
pelled by gasoline motors 
to the fire, and on arrival 
do its pumping with an electric motor tak- 
ing current from service wires laid under- 
ground and coming to the surface at each 
hydrant. This system would enable the 



160 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



co^itruction of a fire engine with even 
greater power than the present steamers 
and weighing not to exceed one half as 
much, which would permit of much greater 
speed in answering alarms. The self pro- 
pelled engine seems certain to come in the 
near future. 

*-•-*> 

"COWCATCHER" ON MOTOR CARS 



AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES ABROAD 



Some effort has been made by auto manu- 
facturers and inventors to produce a device 
for the protection of pedestrians who may 
be run down by motor cars. One of these 



Bft* v 


- --;.;■■■; 


R| >Wg 






j^Ppfe igft 




Hi ^HIUepsIp^ 


' 


•■'■£? • ■• = 


"- ■ 





For the Safety of Pedestrians 

attempts — too crude to be more — is illus- 
trated. A buffer and a cowcatcher arrange- 
ment is fitted to the front of the car. The 
device has been tried on a few Paris ma- 
chines with indifferent success. 

It is improbable that any device so un- 
sightly in design will ever become popular 
with motorists. 



The best locomotives in the world are 
built in the United States. They are to be 
found doing hard service in nearly every 
foreign country. Engines for export are 
built to order and in appearance are often 
different from our own standard types. This 
is because the managers of foreign roads 
desire their own ideas carried out in this 
respect. On the opposite page will be seen 
several illustrations t of this, in locomotives 
built at the Baldwin Locomotive Works. 
Fig. 1 shows a locomotive, sent to Porto Rico; 
Pig. 2, Hawaii; Fig. 3, Chili; Fig. 4, Imperial 
Government Railway, Japan; Fig. 5, New 
South Wales Government Railway. 



LARGEST MOTOR FIRE ESCAPE IN 
THE WORLD 



The first motor fire escape in Great Britain 
and the largest in the world has just been 
added to the equipment of the Glasgow Fire 
Brigade. In appearance the machine re- 
sembles the German type, described in our 
May number. The motive power is a gaso- 
line engine driving a dynamo, which trans- 
mits its current to two electric motors on 
the front wheels; thus the car is driven by 
the front and steering wheels. The exten- 
sion ladder is built in one piece, with the 
body of the machine, says the Graphic, Lon- 
don, is 85 ft. long and is raised and lowered 
by a carbonic acid gas engine. 



Black lead and suet, equal parts, mixed, 
make a good jewelers' rouge. 




The Extension Ladder is Raised by a Carbonic Acid Gas Engine 



162 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



'^PROVED SYSTEM OF CONCRETE 
PILING 



A new form of concrete pile has been in- 
vented in which a steel shell is driven in 
the ground, the cavity thus formed being 
afterwards filled with concrete. The point 
or head may be of steel, as shown in Fig. 1, 
or it may be of concrete, as in Fig. 2. 

The steel head is shaped like a projectile 
and is fastened to the shell as shown in 
Fig. 1. The head is a little larger than the 



Pjjf Oak Head 

.B^Ground Level 




mm 



4 



mmm 





"The Steel Head is Shaped Like a Projectile" 

shell, making the device easier to draw than 
if it were flush with the sides. A small 
rivet-shaped piece of steel, A,, called the 
valve, is inserted in the point just before 
driving. This falls out in withdrawing and 
allows air to pass into the cavity below, the 
air entering at the inlet B. 



The concrete head, Fig. 2, is similar to the 
steel head in shape, but is not fastened to 
the shell and is left in the cavity. Like the 
steel head it is larger than the shell, which 
facilitates driving as well as withdrawing. 

In placing piles under water the exposed 
portions are protected by steel casings, 
which are not removed until the concrete 
has set. 

•—+ 

WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY IMMUNE 
TO STRIKERS 



Wireless telegraphy will be resorted to as 
a means of communication in the coal 
regions during the strike. In former times 
during strikes the miners destroyed the ma- 
chinery and cut the wires of the telegraph 
and telephone systems, so that it was almost 
impossible for the coal operators to keep in 
communication with the outside world. With 
the wireless Installation nothing can stop a 
message once started, and should an attack 
be made on the station or mines the wireless 
operator would have time to call for aid. 



FRENCH GASOLINE STREET CAR 



The gasoline street car is again attract- 
ing attention. The latest effort of the kind 
is a car built in France, an automobile gas- 
oline motor being used. The car has three 
forward speeds, 3%, 10 and 17% miles an 
hour respectively: The reverse gives a 3%- 
mile speed. The motor is of 14 hp., with a 
cone clutch sliding gear transmission and 
single chain drive. The motor is water 
cooled from a tank under the car holding 
50 gals. The car seats 24 passengers and 
is lighted with acetylene for head and tail 
lights and interior. The motorman stands, 
on the front platform as on trolley cars. 




Motor 14 hp.; Seats 24 Passengers; Lighted With Acetylene 



FLOATING COAL BAGGING DEPOT FOR 
COALING WARSHIPS 




( 



New Coaling System lor Warships==3agging Coal Without Shoveling It 



A coal lighter of 1,000 tons' capacity 
"wherein the coal is bagged without shovel- 
ing and then transported automatically to 
the battleship alongside is a new English 
coaling device which promises increased 
speed in this important work. The lighter 
receiyes its store of coal into its holds by 
means of two high-speed 2%-ton cranes (Fig. 
4), -which are also used for transporting 
bagged coal from barges to vessels requir- 
ing it on the other side. These powerful 
cranes can pick up and set down their loads 
at any point within a radius of 40 ft., and 



163 



outside a radius of 8 ft. from the lighter. 
Within the lighter (the process being the 
same at each end) the coal is fed by grav- 
ity (Fig. 3) upon a bench whence it is raked 
into bags by middies. As fast as these bags 
are filled they are hung upon an overhead 
rail along which they run to the elevator, 
and are sent up the shaft at great speed, 
passing from it in the direction indicated 
by the arrows and crossing to the battleship 
along another rail. This method delivers 
the coal to the deck of the warship at the 
rate of 100 tons an hour. 



164 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



AUTOMOBILE MAIL ROUTE IN 
NEW MEXICO 



EXHAUST STEAM RUNS TURBINE 



An automobile mail route 111 miles long 
connecting the cities of Roswell and Tor- 
rance, New Mexico, is a recent and signifi- 
cant enterprise of Uncle Sam. A passenger 
stage business had been in operation over 
the route for about eight months when an 
echo of its success reached Washington and 
an inspector was sent down to study its 
possibilities. As a result, auto mail service 
with a schedule of eight hours was estab- 
lished between the two points. 

The route is 
over rolling 
prairie with 
no trees and 
few rocks. A 
fine road has 
been construc- 
ted by drag- 
gin g plow- 
shaped knives 
attached to a 
machine sim- 
ilar to a road 
drag over it, 
making two. 
smooth 30-in. 
tracks for the 
two sets of 
wheels, right 
and left. Five 
27-hp. ma- 

chines are 
handling the 
passenger and 
mail business and the only interruption in 
the service was during a deep snow that 
blockaded steam trains, as well. At a half- 
way station mails and passengers are trans- 
ferred to a fresh car as better time can be 
made with this plan. 

When traffic is exceptionally heavy the 
mail is carried in a large box mounted on 
a pair of wheels taken from an old auto. 
Frequently the mail car makes the trip in 
five and one-half hours, and under its reg- 
ular schedule, the time of receiving mail 
has been shortened from four to twenty- 
four hours in the various localities bene- 
fited by the service. 



A new application of the steam turbine 
has been discovered. In an electric railway 
power plant in Philadelphia a low-pressure 
steam turbine drives an 800-kw. generator 
using the exhaust steam from five corliss 
engines which total 8,200 hp. The exhaust 
steam enters the turbine at 1 lb. above at- 
mosphere and exhausts into a condenser 
where a vacuum of 28 in. is maintained. 
The turbine works best Avith not less than 
three of the corliss engines running, but 
gives satisfactory efficiency on only one. 




New 



Mexico Mail Auto 

PRODUCER GAS FOR MARINE 
PROPULSION 



Hereafter the Weather Bureau will warn 
ships at sea of storms and fog by means of 
wireless telegraphy. In case of fog the 
area to be affected will be given, thus en- 
abling vessels to shape their course accord- 
ingly, with less danger of collision. 



The use of spirit motors for marine ser- 
vice is necessarily limited, and therefore the 
employment of producer gas is now claim- 
ing the attention of many engineers. An 
example is given of a suction producer in- 
stallation in the "Lotte," a freight boat 134 
ft. long, 15 ft. beam, and 6 ft. 6 in. draught, 
with a load of 240 tons, says the London 
Gas Review. Two gas engines, well bal- 
anced and placed with cylinders vis-a-vis, 
develop about 100 hp. and the experiments 
made with this and similar vessels have 
proved that the cost of transport per ton 
mile by such means is two-thirds that by 
steamboat, and one-fifth that by railroad. 

That gas engines and suction gas pro- 
ducers will be extensively utilized for 
freight boats is very evident. An unlimited 
supply of water for washing and generating 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



165 



the gas and for cooling of engine cylinders 
is all in its favor. The question of weight 
is Of little importance. While the larger size 
of gas engines have not been applied to 
marine propulsion, the smaller engines have 
proved their capability and high economy 
for propelling boats of moderate size at the 
speeds common to ordinary river transport. 
There is no doubt that great strides will be 
made in this direction, both with the gas en- 
gine and with oil engines. 

4 * » ' ' 

LAZY BUG HINDERS PANAMA 
CANAL 



THE FRENCH MINE DISASTER 



Government Looking for Immunes to Dig the 
Big Ditch 




The Lazy Bug, the subject of extravagant 
ridicule two years ago, is now recognized as 
an actual, serious proposition, and one which 
quite as much as yellow fever must be reck- 
oned with in building the Panama canal. 
The lazy bug is the discovery of Capt. Bai- 
ley K. Ashford, assistant surgeon in the 
United States Army. The vindication of 
his investigations is seen in the appropria- 
tion of $50,000 to carry on his work in Porto 
Pico, and the sending of a government of- 
ficer to that island in the effort to secure 
native immunes for work on the Panama 
canal. 

The lazy bug is a microscopic parasite in 
the form of a small worm, which attaches 
itself to the walls of 
the small intestines 
and absorbs the nutri- 
tious chyle before it 
passes into the blood; 
in a short time the blood is so impoverished 
the victim loses strength and becomes dizzy 
and light headed. None are exempt; the 
parasite attacks children and people of all 
ages. 

Capt. Ashford not only solved the ques- 
tion of what caused this universal debility, 
but discovered an antidote in the form of a 
serum. During the past two years hundreds 
of thousands of Porto Ricans have been 
treated and cured. Many of the natives act- 
ually walked over 200 miles to take the 
cure. Ten stations for free treatment are 
now operated, and one big tobacco manufac- 
turer employing 2,000 hands, reports his out- 
put increased one-half after his men were 
treated. 

Capt. Ashford has been ordered to Wash- 
ington, from which point he will enlarge and 
direct his work. The treatment will be es- 
tablished in the canal zone for the benefit 
of laborers on the canal. 



A glimpse of the coal mine at Courrieres, 
France, where nearly 1,200 miners lost their 
lives recently, is given in the illustrations 
reproduced from the London Illustrated 




A Narrow Gallery 

News. The vein of coal is a narrow one, 
compelling the miners to work while in a 
sitting or reclining position. On March 29, 
twenty days after the disaster, fourteen men 
were rescued, who had been compelled to 
subsist on the meagre rations they happened 
to have at the time, and hay which was 
kept in the workings for the donkeys which 
draw the small dump cars to the bottom of 
the shaft. The rescue was one of the most 




The Rooms are Low 

remarkable in the history of mine acci- 
dents, and was made days after all hope 
had been abandoned. 

*—+ 

Portugal has decided to purchase two 
steerable aerial warships for the use of her 
expedition against the revolted tribes in 
West Africa. 



■» '<•» ' ' m ■&«. 






'*%' 






,^* sat; $u«»a vte^^wavv* 

<■"» JSiP" it .<SS5>S SS9>»..i slats*!- ■» **SS 

-MS Bits ■SlMHI^IikS 

> * us i k3£ IBtei is 8 ?ss j a safest Bra #& 

Hi £8§l ijm-i 






.«*« «T3 



-31 CT#- 1 ' ^ffiWIKSVOCtitou:**' 



-mi a \ 



€ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



167 



BUILDING THE NEW CUNARD 
EXPRESS STEAMERS 



All Previous Efforts in Shipbuilding to Be Exceed" 
ed in the Atlantic Liners 



Each year the shipbuilders approach a 
few feet nearer the ultimate goal of an 
ocean steamship 1,000 ft. in length. The 
two new Cunard liners now building, one of 
which will be launched the last of the pres- 
ent month, will be 790 ft. long; 88 ft. 
breadth; depth moulded 60% ft; displace- 
ment over 40,000 tons; and speed from 27 
to 29 statute miles per hour. The accom- 
plishment of such magnificent record break- 
ing has been made possible by a subsidy of 
$750,000 a year, and the loan of $10,000,000 
at 2% per cent from the British government. 
In return the ships are to fly the English 
flag, and be available to the admiralty in 
event of their need in case of war. 

The two ships are identical in construc- 
tion, hence the description of one applies to 
both. The hull is being constructed in a 
large shed with glass roof 700 ft. long, 100 
ft. wide and 144 ft. high. All manner of 
electric cranes move in every direction far 
overhead; when their work is done 30,000 
tons of steel will have been assembled 
and taken form in a gigantic hull of grace- 
ful form and bound together in the strong- 
est manner known to the art. The rudder 
weighing 65 tons, and with its main cast- 
ings totaling 200 tons, suggests the massive 
lines of construction. There are six decks, 
which will accommodate 2,350 passengers 
and 800 employes. 

The captain on the bridge will be 110 ft. 
above the keel; while the four funnels will 
rise to 154 ft. above the keel, and are large 
enough to permit two locomotives of ordi- 
nary size to pass within any one of the fun- 
nels. The two masts are each 210 ft. high. 
In order to secure the high speed required, 
each ship will require an indicated horse- 
power of 60,800. This will be derived 
from four screw propellers driven by steam 
turbines — two low and two high pressure- 
supplied with steam at 195 lbs. from 23 
double-end boilers and two single-end, with 
a total of 192 furnaces. In addition to the 
4,500 electric lights, electricity will operate 
the elevators and other conveniences, while 
all parts of the ship will be connected by 
telephones. 

♦ » » 

Two German soldiers sailed in a balloon 
from Berlin recently, crossed the Baltic Sea 
in a fierce snow storm and landed, ex- 
hausted, but safe, on the Swedish coast. 



CLEANING HOUSES WITH STEAM 

In England a new method of cleaning the 
exterior of buildings has been introduced. 
A workman dressed in waterproof clothes 
and with face carefully protected handles 
india-rubber tubes by means of which a jet 




A Jet of Steam is Used 



of hissing steam is played over the build- 
ing, cleansing it beautifully. 



FLEXIBLE GLASS 



The imitation glass windows used in au- 
tomobile tops are simply celluloid, similar 
to that used for making draughtsmen's tri- 
angles, only much thinner, being 10-1000 
and 15-1000 of an inch thick. In use the 
surface often becomes scratched which 
makes it opaque. Another disadvantage is 
its extreme inflammability which makes it 
dangerous in some cases. 

An imitation .flexible glass is also made 
of gelatine. This is not' inflammable like cel- 
luloid, but it will not withstand the action 
of water, which prevents its use for most 
articles. Novelty candy boxes are sometimes 
made of this gelatine glass, and are very 
attractive, the contents of the dox being 
visible before opening. 



168 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



MEMORIAL TEMPLE WITH BURIAL 
CRYPTS 



Idea of Westminster Abbey Applied for the Benefit 
of the Rich Rather than the Illustrious 



A classic memorial temple with a chapel 
and two halls containing crypts for the dead 
is soon to be built at a Chicago cemetery. 
The structure will embody, in a modernized 
form, the idea of Westminster Abbey and 




Memorial Hall==Right Wing==54 Spaces 

other old English cathedrals and will be 
built with a view to permanency. 

The architecture will be of the Ionic or- 
der. In the center of the temple will be 
located a chapel equipped with a pipe 
organ and other essentials, and at the 
right and left of this chapel, the wings 
with spaces for 108 caskets in all. These 
receptacles will be built of concrete and 
slate just beneath the floor, each capped 
with a heavy granite sarcophagus cover, 
polished to receive the inscription. Com- 
plete sanitation will be provided by means 
of in and out currents of air. At the rear 



of the temple will be 40 crypts for tempor- 
ary receiving purposes. A chime of bells in 
the dome will be made to play music ap- 
propriate to burial services. The building 
will cost $150,000. 

♦ » » 

FIRE PRECAUTION IN MILLS 



If cobwebs and fine dust are allowed to 
collect in the planing mill, the danger of 
fire is greatly increased. A tiny flame will 
flash all over a large building in a few 
minutes where it has this inflammable mat- 
ter to feed on. It pays to keep the dust 
and cobwebs well swept down. A corre- 
spondent of the Wood- Worker says: 

"I well remember one fire. My first ex- 
perience in a mill was taking away from a 
matcher. I was just outside the mill, taking 
away ceiling and putting it into a car on a 
side track, when the man who was feeding 
the machine threw up his hands and cried 
out 'Fire!' I ran into the mill and there 
was a small blaze about the size of a man's 
hat in a pile of shavings just in front of 
the boiler. In less time than it takes me 
to write it the fire was all through the 
mill. The men upstairs did not have time 
to pick up tools, and some of them had not 
time to get their coats. Not a thing was 
saved. That was a case where there was no 
time taken to sweep up, and the fire seemed 
to flash all over the mill at once." 



MOTOR CARS FOR LONDON DAILY 



One of the great London dailies uses a 
large number of motor cars in reporting 
political meetings and elections at points 
where telephone and telegraph are not 
available. 




Motor Cars for Reporting Elections to Isolated Districts 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



169 




Towing Out the Lower Section of the Light=House 



At the outermost spur of land off North 
Carolina's ragged coast lie the dreaded 
Diamond shoals of Cape Hatteras, now cov- 
ered with towering waves and a surge of 
seething white spray; and again, swept 
bare of the deep and exposed, treacherous 
sand-bars, rock-fanged and relentless, to the 
sky. Outside the shoals and the heavy sea 
continually thundering over them is a nar- 
row strip of safe water, six miles in width, 
and beyond — fourteen miles at sea— north- 
ward sweeps . the swift and powerful cur- 
rent of the Gulf Stream. A lightship 
swings at its cable on the coastward edge 
of the stream and its tiny beacon is lost 
at times amid the swirl and swoop of the 
elements as it is engulfed in the trough of 
the waves, only to shine again triumphantly 
from the crest, whither it has been tossed. 
Northbound ships pass outside the light- 
ship and float with the Gulf Stream, but 
every southbound vessel, riding the narrow 
channel between the Stream and the 
shoals, is in imminent peril; in a heavy 
storm the chances are that any A r essel will 
be driven from that narrow course to de- 
struction, as hundreds have been. With the 
construction of the Panama Canal the vol- 
ume of traffic passing Cape Hatteras will 
be greatly increased, but long before the 
Canal is completed the terrors of the point 
will have been diminished. Seamen will 
have one inflexible law for their guidance: 
"Keep outside the light," for upon the outer 
Diamond shoal will stand a marvel of light- 
house construction. 

The foundation of this light-house-to-be 
will consist of a huge steel caisson 108 ft. 
in diameter at the bottom, 50 ft. in diam- 
eter at the top and 80 ft. high, shaped like 
the lower portion of a cone and having a 
cylindrical base. This caisson will be built 
at a shipyard and then towed to its perma- 
nent location upon the shoal. The shell of 
the caisson will be double, of steel plates, 
with a 6-ft. space between the two walls, 
the plates attached to 24 upright inclined 



plate girders dividing the space between 
the shell into 24 watertight compartments. 
It will also have a double bottom placed 
7 ft. above the outer bottom edge of the 
caisson and the space between the two 
floors will be divided into 24 sections by 
trusses extending horizontally to within 8 ft. 
of the center. This will leave a space 16 
ft. in diameter at the center of the caisson 
for the accommodation of an open vertical 
shaft extending from top to bottom. The 
steel plates enclosing this shaft will be 
attached to steel girders about 13 ft. one 
above the other, extending horizontally 
from the shaft to the inner edge of the 
24 inclined girders; and these horizontal 
girders will act as temporary floor beams, 
dividing the caisson into five large circular 
rooms. When the caisson is ready for its 
difficult and dangerous sea voyage these 
rooms will contain the boiler, engines, 
pumps, derricks, dredging apparatus, con- 
crete mixing machinery, water, sand and 
cement — all the different materials neces- 
sary for sinking and filling the caisson — 
besides supplies and equipment for the 
workmen. 

Before leaving the shipyards, part of the 
space between the two outer shells and 
part of the bottom, also, will be filled with 
concrete, sufficient to cause the caisson to 
draw 21 ft. of water, then tug-boats will be 
attached and the portable light-house foun- 
dation will start sm its journey. Should a 
storm overtake her en route, her draught 
will be increased by scuttling, so that only 
a small portion will be exposed to the 
wrath of the elements: then, too, should 
she go ashore, she would ground in deeper 
water, and could be floated again easily by 
pumping or by forcing the water out by air 
pressure. 

Arrived at the shoals anchors and cables 
will be used to hold the caisson in posi- 
tion (Fig. 1), and immediately enough 
water will be pumped into the interior 
compartments to sink it till it rests on the 



170 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



sands in 24 ft. of water, its top reaching 
56 ft. above the surface of the ocean 
(Fig. 2). The edges of the caisson will 
sink into the sand for several feet. Water 
ballast will then be pumped into the 24 
compartments above sea level, and to keep 
the floor horizontal in case of uneven set- 
tlement more water can be pumped into 
the walls on one side than on the other 
(Fig, 2). Then the process of sinking the 
foundation deep into the sands will begin. 
Open dredging, carried on through the cen- 
tral shaft, will be employed until the cais- 
son has been sunk as far as practicable 
by this method. This will leave the 7-ft. 
space beneath the double floor of the cais- 
son nearly cleared of sands but filled with 
water. The water will be forced out by 
compressed air, leaving a great circular 
chamber, with the shells of the caisson and 
of the central shaft forming its walls and 
the sands of the outer Diamond shoal its 
floor. Fig. 3 shows the means of descent 
into this working chamber and men therein 
assisting the hydraulic dredging machinery 
in excavating with powerful water jets, 
shovels and special tools. In this process 
the sand is forced toward the central tube, 
where it is pumped upward and discharged 
through the outer shell of the caisson by 
ejectors or sand pumps. Where large ob- 
structions, such as wreckage, are encoun- 
tered, it is proposed to remove them by 
means of grappling hooks. Divers, too, will 
assist in this work. 

While the work of excavation is being 
carried on as rapidly as possible, the space 
between the two walls of the caisson will 
be filled with concrete (Fig. 3). Cement, 
crushed stone, granite blocks, boulders, 
supplies, etc., will be brought to the caisson 
on lighters and quickly taken aboard - by 
steam hoisting engines, to be used as 
required. When the foundation has been 
sunk to a depth of 26 ft. below the surface 
of the sand, the workmen will abandon the 
air chamber and the work of filling with 
concrete will proceed (Fig. 4), walls first 
and then chamber by chamber from the 
bottom upward until at last all the ma- 
chinery has been removed (Fig. 5) and the 
foundation stands a solid block of concrete 
and steel to within a few feet of the top, 
where a space will be left for a cistern of 
capacity for 15,000 gals, of fresh water, 
crew's quarters and coal and oil storage. 
The central tube up to the space for the 
cistern will be filled with wet sand. 

An oval-shaped rip-rap apron composed 
of irregular granite blocks will be deposited 
on the sand to entirely surround the foun- 



dation and to extend 75 ft. outward from 
its edge (Figs. 4, 5, 6). Small stones will 
be used to fill the spaces between the larger 
ones, and over all will drift the sands. 

The light-house proper to be erected upon 
this foundation will be a steel plate cylin- 
der with a slight batter from base to top 
and supporting at a height of 150 ft. above 
tide level a light of the first order. This 
superstructure will have an outside steel 
shell and a central steel tube to contain 
the spiral stairway, chimneys and ventila- 
tors. The outer shell will be lined with a 
layer of concrete 4 in. thick placed upon 
wire mesh or expanded steel. There will 
be eight floors besides the lantern gallery 
and watchroom, used as follows: First, 
life station equipped with three lifeboats 
and crane for hoisting and lowering on the 
outside; second, four rooms containing fog- 
signaling apparatus and two oil engines; 
third, hoisting engine for operating crane 
two provision rooms, bedroom; fourth, fiftlj 
sixth and seventh, living quarters; eighth, 
Light-house Service room. 

The sum appropriated for the light-house 
is the largest in the history of this country: 
$750,000 for the structure and $30,000 for 
lens and equipment. The light will be vis- 
ible for a distance of 20 miles. Credit for 
this great engineering enterprise is due 
Capt. Albert F. Eells, .of Boston, Mass., who 
has contracted with Congress to build the 
light-house at his own expense, operate it 
for a stipulated time and then turn it over 
to the government. Not only will the pro- 
ject afford a stable beacon for the guid- 
ance of sea-farers, but in case a vessel is 
unable to keep its course and is doomed 
to be driven ashore, if the captain steers 
straight for the light, help from the life- 
saving station may be able to reach those 
in danger. The light-house will also be 
made a wireless station. 

It is estimated that the weight of the en- 
tire structure with its contents will be ap- 
proximately 27,000 tons; displacement of 
water, 10,000 tons; effective weight on the 
sands of the shoals, 17,000 tons, covering 
an effective area on the base of 8,960 sq. ft; 
pressure on base from vertical weight, 1.9 
tons per square foot. 



+—+ 

A pipe line for conveying California oil 
is being built across the Isthmus of Pan- 
ama. 

+-+-•> 

For tbe season of 1905, domestic freight 
traffic on the Detroit river amounted to 
53,639,086 net tons. 











3i$&P&>i*& 




172 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



SELF=PROPELLED FIRE APPA= 
RATUS ABROAD 



WIND=MILL AIR COMPRESSION 



Austria, which as a country leads the 
world in the development of its fire depart- 
ments, and Germany, where the subject is 
also receiving much attention, are rapidly 
adopting self propelled apparatus; especi- 
ally in their larger cities. The motive 
powers are steam, storage batteries and gas- 
oline motors. Several of the very latest 
types are illustrated by courtesy of the 
builders, Jacob Lohner & Co., Vienna. 



By J. L. Pilling 



There is no limit to the amount of air 
that can be compressed and stored to any 
given pressure, either in connection with 
light-ships, light-houses, or in fact, any- 
where — afloat or ashore, using windmills 
for the purpose. 

The air compressor can be connected di- 
rect to the windmill, or through pulley on 
windmill below deck to a belted compressor 




Figs. 1 and 3==Electrically Propelled Chemical Engine With Extension Ladder 
Fig. 2==Berlin Self-Propelled Steamer 



In Fig. 1 is shown a comparatively light 
piece, which is a combined chemical engine 
and extension ladder. The propelling power 
is electricity, from storage batteries carried 
in the box forward. Hose is carried under 
the driver's seat, at the side, and on a two- 
wheel hose. cart which is placed in front. 
The ladder extends to 80 ft. when raised as 
shown in Fig. 3. 

A self-propelled steamer which has gone 
into service in Berlin, is seen in Fig. 2. A 
supply of coal is carried in the box immedi- 
ately 1 in front of the driver, and the small 
hose cart is also found forward. In all 
these machines it will be noted the weight 
is carried low. 



in the hold of the ship. Ample room is 
available for receivers in which to store the 
compressed air, and enough to last several 
days could easily be accumulated. Thus far 
the compressed air has cost nothing, only 
for the installation of the plant and normal 
wear and tear. 

I would compress the air to 125 lbs. pres- 
sure per square inch at least, and connect 
an engine I have in mind direct to dynamo. 
Close to the engine I would have an up- 
right boiler 36 by 72 in., reducing the air 
from 125 to 45 lbs., and reheating the same 
in the upright boiler mentioned, using crude 
oil or wood alcohol for the re-heating. By 
so doing the 45 lbs. could be raised to 90 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



173 



lbs. or more, turned into the engine, and 
electricity generated thereby. So far, again, 
the cost has been nominal. 

The time is fast approaching when a com- 
pressed air explosive engine will be in suc- 
cessful operation. (I speak advisedly.) A 



very small amount of liquid explosive will 
be mixed with the air. Aldehyde, hydrogen, 
peroxide, and oxygen in due proportions will 
be used, the idea being to use as much air 
as is practical, taking the removal of" the 
products of combustion into consideration. 



AN ELECTRIC KITCHEN 




Courtesy The Electric City. 

Kitchen "Range" of Oak and Slate, Showing Oven, Water=Heaters, etc. 



Electricity, only a few years ago a mys- 
terious agent of laboratory demonstrations 
and a name to conjure with, has in these 
latter days become so commonplace as to 
serve as a broiler of meat and a baker of 
biscuits. The family cook is no electrician, 
and has no need to be: all the electrical 
knowledge she requires is that necessary 
to turn one switch to boil coffee, and another 
to bake bread. Had anyone attempted such 
a demonstration little more than a century 
ago he would have been burned at a' stake 



with a wood fire as an evil genius whose 
very existence jeopardized the lives and 
health of the community. 

The modern electric range for a small 
family does not require much space; it is 
built substantially and attractively of oak 
and slate, and instead of plumbago the kit- 
chen maid brightens the "stove" with fur- 
niture polish. The electric range emits no 
smoke or gas, the fire is built in a second, 
and the terrors of the woodpile no longer 
haunt the small boy of the family. Instead 



174 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



of splitting kindling he will be found work- 
ing a wireless telegraph to another boy 
three blocks away, or doing things with his 
electric motor. 

The electric dish-washer, and clothes- 



drier, with the electric flat iron, are includ- 
ed in the furnishing of an electric outfit for 
the house; to which must be added the large 
and ever increasing list of other domestic 
utilities — and all electric. 



STEAMBOAT RUNS STREET CARS 



The electric cars of a great city being run 
with initial power from a steamboat is one 
of the unusual things in power plant ex- 
periences; but this has actually been done 
for several months past. Incidentally it sug- 
gests a new source of revenue to boat own-, 
ers during winter months when steamers 
are tied up. 

The street car company at Baltimore, Md., 
at the opening of the past winter, had not 
been able to complete its power plant which 
was burned in the big fire. Business had 




An Aquatic Power Plant 

also increased until the cars were short of 
power. A new boiler house was building 
but would take all winter to complete. The 
shortage in boilers was solved by securing 
the use of the steamer "Lord Baltimore," 
which was tied up to the street car com- 
pany's dock where its power plant is located. 
The steamer has about 1,500 b. h. p. The 

Street Railway 
Journal says: 
"To utilize the 
steam from the 
beat a 10-in. 
tap was taken 
off from the 
main 10-in. 
header in the 
boiler room of 
the power sta- 




tion, and this tap was extended to the water 
edge where the steamer is moored. The end 
of the 10-in. tap is supported at the edge of 
the pier on trestle work, where it terminates 
in a 10-in. manifold. On the ship side, support- 
ed on the upper deck of the steamer, is a sec- 
ond manifold 8 ins. in diameter. These two 
steam manifolds are connected together by 
a series of flexible copper tubes to allow for 
the rise and fall of the steamer with the 
tides, the arrangement giving a maximum 
range of 7 ft. The 8-in. manifold on the 
ship is connected by a single 8-in. header to 
the main steam drums of the ship's boilers. 
In order to give proper control over the aux- 
iliary steam supply from the boat, a 10-in 
stop valve was placed in the long tap con- 
nection just inside the station boiler room, 
and to avoid any possibility of bleeding the 
station boilers in the event that the steam 
pressure in the ship's boilers should drop 
below 200 lbs., a non-return automatic valve 
was placed in the tap connection near its 
outer end at the water edge." 



TELEPHONE NEW YORK TO 
LONDON 



Recent Discoveries Almost Insure a Successful 
Telephone Cable Across the Atlantic 



To "hello" from New York to London is 
literally a "far cry," but recent successful 
experiments, the result of electrical discov- 
eries in cable making, give great promise 
of a trans-Atlantic telephone cable in the 
near future. 

Professor M. I. Pupin, of the Columbia 
University, New York, has successfully tele- 
phoned over a distance of 250 miles under 
submarine conditions by inserting induction 
coils in the line at intervals of 2% miles. 

By the use of these coils over 2 l / 2 per cent 
of the current transmitted reached the re- 
ceiving end, while with the coils cut out the 
efficiency was only 1-2500 of 1 per cent. 

In transmitting currents through cables 
under water, many difficulties are encount- 
ered which are not met with in aerial trans- 
mission. The inductive effect of the water 
tends to generate a current in the opposite 
direction which results in a great loss of 
energy. Dr. Pupin in his experiments 






ENCYCLOPEDIA 



175 



produced this inductive effect artificially by 
passing the current through sheets of tin 
foil separated by parafined paper. This ap- 
paratus placed in an ordinary telephone cir- 
cuit completely stopped all communication 
until the Pupin coils were introduced in the 
circuit when the conductivity was again 
established. 

The induction coils used for this purpose 
are very small, being only 1 in. long and Vz 
in. diameter, which allows their introduc- 
tion in a cable without any great difficulty. 
A cable of this kind between England and 



1,000 miles long, electric- lighted to permit 
navigation at night and a speed of eight 
miles an hour will be allowed. Large ships 
could make the distance in five days. In 
case of war, the fleets of these two seas 
could pass from one to the other without re- 
straint, and should the Bosporous or the 
Gibraltar Strait be closed the movements 
of the Russian navy would not be affected. 
The canal would also be to commercial ad- 
vantage, especially in the transit trade per 
vessels from Suez, Egypt, Greece and Tur- 
key to north Europe and vice versa. 




Only Skilful Runners Can Stand This Test 



America would contain about 3,000 coils, 
which would make it more expensive than 
an oi'dinary cable, but the resulting revenue 
would soon compensate for the outlay. 

The cable between England and France 
has been equipped with the Pupin coils 
which have increased its capacity over 100 
per cent, and as Dr. Pupin has now given 
his attention to the trans-Atlantic cable it 
is hoped that this device will be in opera- 
tion in the near future. 

* » » — 

PROPOSED 1, 000-MILE CANAL 



MOTORCYCLE AND SKI TANDEMS 



The Russian government proposes build- 
ing a ship canal to connect the Baltic and 
the Black Seas. The canal will be nearly 



The motorcycle is used in Norway to in- 
crease the excitement and pleasure in the 
popular winter sport of ski-running. The 
runner yokes himself with the motorcycle 
by grasping with his left hand one end of 
a long leather strap, which is attached to 
the cycle. The motorist then starts up at 
full speed and the pace tries the skill of 
the runner to the utmost, as the tendency 
is to pull the body ahead of the feet. 
■ * « » 

A renowned Belgian surgeon has' suc- 
ceeded in growing new bone through artifi- 
cial means, he claims. The experiment has 
been' successful in cases of fracture. 



176 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



NOVEL HYDRAULIC AIR COM= 
PRESSOR 



118 Lbs. Pressure Obtained Without Pumping 



Water power is usually converted to com- 
pressed air power by means of a water 



i\ 




' 




B 


sWh 


-z.— =^_— 


Hi- 

u. j J j 

"■ 1 


^A 


= =j3^3?— 4N^ 


V— 20 in. Air Pipe fo Mine 










itt f?ock 

>&\V- 12 in. Blow - off ' Pipe.. 








ftocK 


F vvK 


1 

< 
l 


L 

3 
9 
J 




'C 




V\V E 






^D 


\V _r- — -^ ^-— _=■ 


— -= - - -y.^. 


Fig. 1 


D / 



wheei or turbine connected to an air pump, 
but at the Victoria mine, Mass, Michigan, 
the compressed air is obtained direct, with- 
out the use of either water wheel or com- 
pression pump. The Ontonagan River, at 
this point, has a drop of 75 ft. in three 
quarters of a mile, and the water is con- 
ducted from a dam by a race, A, Fig. 1, cut 
in the rock. 




When the water reaches the end of the 
race it enters the opening B, and passes 
down a vertical shaft C, 5 ft. in diameter. 
The head, Fig. 2, has a number of nipples 
N, so arranged that the water in passing 
draws in air which mixes with the water 
and descends with it to the bottom of the 
shaft, where it strikes the 
deflector D, Fig. 1. The air 
then separates from the 
water and rises in cham- 
ber E, where it is com-- 
pressed to 118 lbs. per sq. 
in. From here it is con- 
veyed by a 20-in. pipe to 
the mine where it is used 
to operate the drills and 
drive all the machinery. 
The total capacity of the 
compression apparatus is 
3,000 hp., but the power 
consumed at the mine is 
considerably less, so a 12- 
in. blow-off pipe was in- 
stalled as shown. The 
stream of water and spray 
ejected from this pipe 
greatly resembles a geyser 
and, when the mine is not 
running, is often over 200 ft. high. 

After delivering the air, the water passes, 
up the inclined shaft F and continues on its. 
journey. The supply of water to the shaft 
is regulated by the air from pipe G which 
connects with the chamber C, Fig. 2. Open- 
ing the valve D allows air to enter the 
chamber C which causes the shell, A, to rise, 
and stop the flow of water. When the valve 
E is opened, the air from chamber c es- 
capes and allows the shell to sink, thus con- 
trolling the supply of water. 

Now that this system of air compression 
has proved to be satisfactory, there will 
probably be more of these compressors in 
operation. There are many places where 
they could be used to advantage as the effi- 
ciency is 75 per cent, while the efficiency of 
a turbine and pump is only about 50 per 
cent. 



Automobiles will be carried on British 
battleship's and cruisers hereafter. The cars 
can be handled by the boat derrick easily 
and motoring is popular in the service. 



Dye-making from coal tar is the healthiest 
trade in the world, as the tar is a tonic and 
a tissue builder. The average life of the tar 
worker is 86 years. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



177 



SHALLOW WATERS MADE NAVL 
GABLE 



By a New and Simple Method=-Uses Screw Pro= 
peller in Water Only a Few Inches Deep 



A new method of using a screw pro- 
peller, with all its advantages, for the pro- 
pulsion of large boats in extremely shallow 





riethod of Using Screw Propellers^ in 
Shallow Water 

water, appears to be an entire success. 
Boats have been run under this method in 
as shallow water as 6 in. The system is 
being applied in boats now under construc- 
tion for use in canals, rivers, lakes and the 
ocean. 

The new idea is extremely simple. It 
consists of a bottomless arched wheel 
chamber, which may be carried as far 
above the water line as necessary. This 
wheel chamber is connected at the top to 
a secondary or vacuum chamber where a 
partial vacuum is constantly maintained 
when the boat is running, by means of a 
comparatively small vacuum pump. The 
American Shipbuilder says: "This, as will 
be seen, causes a solid pressure of water to 
surround the wheel, as well as to stand 
over and above the wheel. This pressure 
is equal to the depth the water may then 
be standing over it, in the column, giving 
the same solidity of pressure upon the 
wheel as if it were down under the surface 
of the water, an equal number of feet in 
depth, thus giving it- solid water for a 
'footing' at all times and proportionately 
more power in propelling a vessel through 
or over the surface water, insuring abso- 
lutely no slipping or racing at ■ any time, 
and getting better results than if the ves- 
sel were deep in the water, so as to get 



her wheel well submerged to secure this 
same solid water for a fooling. The vac- 
uum pump is run little, as is proved con- 
clusively by the boats now in use, since the 
water once up remains in the column for 
hours. Of course it is not the same iden- 
tical water, as the change is rapid and 
constant when the vessel is moving, but 
water is always there just the same." 



NEW WATER TURBINE 



A 900-hp. water turbine, having three 
sets of blades, has been designed for driv- 
ing electrical generators at Sewall's Falls, 
New Haven. The use of three sets of blades 
allows its adaptation to the variations in 
head which occur between the maximum 
fall of 16 ft. and the minimum of 12 ft. 
The upper and lower runners discharge 
downward and the middle one discharges 
upward. This tends to balance the tur- 
bine shaft and relieves some of the strain 
on the thrust bearing. 




For Driving Electrical Generators 

This installation, says the Electrical Mag- 
azine, is typical of what can be done with 
low variable falls and should provide ma- 
terial for others of a similar nature where 
recourse to steam or other power may be 
under consideration. The efficiency of this 
turbine is estimated at 75 to 78 per cent. 



178 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



MECHANICS ON THE FARM 

Opportunities for Reclaiming Wet Lands 

The modern successful farmer is not con- 
tent with simply knowing how to plough a 
straight furrow, or how many kernels of 
corn to plant in each hill, but realizes that 
he must keep abreast with the times to ob- 
tain the benefits of the increasing efficiency 
of scientific farming. Mechanics, engineers, 
chemists, and even bacteriologists, have 
given their attention to farm work and all 
have done much to improve past methods. 

According to government reports, farm 
machinery is growing more complex each 
year and the cost of farm implements used, 
in the United States is over $100,000,000 an- 
nually, which goes to, ehow that the knowl- 
edge of mechanics is indispensable to the 
modern farmer. 

A knowledge of chemistry is also advan- 
tageous. Some lands which have been bar- 
ren for years are now made fertile by a 
proper selection of crops and many soils are 
made productive by the addition of nitrates, 
phosphates, and other fertilizers. Even 
germs are sometimes used, the object being 
to increase the nitrates. 

Engineering operations have also been a 
great help to the farmer, both in draining 
and irrigating. Many districts in the South, 
which have been swamps until recently, are 
now yielding splendidly, and the govern- 
ment reports show that there are 100,000,- 
000 acres of land still awaiting this im- 
provement. 

The increasing value of land, and scarcity 
and high price of farm labor has resulted 
in the building of numerous agricultural 
colleges and experiment stations where 
much study and research is being made to 
produce more efficient equipment for the 
coming generation. 

A field which is open to hundreds of 
bright young men is that of scientific drain- 
ing of wet lands. These lands, when re- 
claimed, immediately double or thrible in 
value, because of their extreme richness. The 
young engineer or mechanic who will study 
this subject can equip himself at a few 
hundred dollars' expense to do rapid and ef- 
fective ditching, using horses to draw the 
machine. 

A single illustration of this which re- 
cently came to the attention of the writer: 
In southern Wisconsin was a swale which 
extended for a mile and from 100 ft. to a 
quarter of a mile wide. In the spring it 
was always under water for weeks, and 
even in the dryer seasons was soft and 
swampy and unfit to work. One day a man 



came along and made the various farmers 
interested in a proposition to run a ditch the 
entire length of the bad land. His charge 
of so much per rod for ditching did not 
come hard on any one owner. He brought a 
machine ditching outfit and ditched the en- 
tire length in three days. His profit amount- 
ed to $300 or $100 a day. It seems large, 
but the farmers could not have dug the 
ditch by hand, or with any of the ordinary 
means at hand for ten times that sum. 
The result was the perfect reclamation of 
more than 200 acres of land that previous 
to the draining could ,not be used or sold at 
any price, but which immediately was 
worth $100 per acre, or more than $20,000, 
even though the water had only commenced 
to run off. 

It may be interesting to know how one 
could draw any ditching machine through a 
bog where a horse would instantly sink to 
his knees, or worse. Two small steel cables, 
each one-half mile in length, were laid over 
the course, and attached to the ditching 
machine. The other ends were fastened to 
a strong winding drum securely anchored to 
some good sized trees. Sixteen horses were 
hitched to the arms of the windlass and 
when they started, the ditcher immediately 
showed results, leaving a V-shaped excava- 
tion 4 ft. deep and nearly 8 ft. across at the 
top. The work was completed as the ma- 
chine progressed, and the slope of the sides 
being so slight, the ditch will become grass- 
covered long before the sides can wash and 
fill the trench. 

This is only one illustration of thousands 
of opportunities in which young men of re- 
sources in doing things can undertake a 
line of work which gives large returns, and 
at the same time actually adds to the 
wealth of the community. There are many 
types of machines for drainage work, some 
of which may be better adapted to certain 
localities and conditions than others. This 
the operator must carefully study and de- 
cide for himself. Excellent steam-operated 
machines are being used with success. 

Hundreds of thousands of acres have been 
reclaimed during the past three years, but 
for some reason the work has failed to at- 
tract the attention it deserves, possibly be- 
cause so many of the operations have been 
on a large scale where thousands of low 
lands have been reclaimed in a single con- 
tract. There remains, however, plenty or' 
opportunities for small work which doe? 
not require anything like the investment of 
the large ones, and which will pay the 
practical, competent young engineer big re- 
turns. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



179 



QUEEN OF WORLD'S LAKE CRAFT 



Nothing on Fresh Water Today Compares With New Lake Boat 




In the April issue appeared an account 
of the magnificent Hudson river steamer — 
now building— which will eclipse all river 
craft in the world. The illustrations on this 
page and the next show the new passenger 
steamer of the D & C company, Detroit, 
which will cost $1,250,000 and take rank 
far in advance of any lake craft in the 
world. 

The big ship will be 400 feet long, 54 
feet beam and 90 feet over the guards, and 
22 feet depth of hold. She will be pro- 
pelled by three cylinder compound engines 
of 7,000 indicated horsepower, turning 
feathering paddle wheels. The steamer will 
be supplied with eight cylindrical boilers 
and the craft will have a speed of twenty 
miles per hour. Between her decks can 
be stored 110 car loads of freight, while her 



passenger excursion limit will be 4,500 per* 
sons. 

The amount of material needed to con- 
struct and equip such a ship is of interest. 
In the building of the double hull, for there 
is a water bottom, 4,000,000 pounds of steel 
plate, angles, beams and rivets will be used, 
700,000 rivets alone being required. Of 
wood, 1,600,000 feet of oak, pine, mahogany 
and other varieties will be needed. The 
joiner work will take 3,400 pounds of nails, 
while 2% miles of steam heating pipes will 
be placed. Wireless telegraph and 1,600 
electric lights are included in the electrical 
equipment. 

A special feature of interest is the big 
steadying tanks, with a capacity of 100 
tons of water ballast. This ballast will be 
used during heavy seas and prevent rocking 



180 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



and pitching. This is the same system fireplaces, and private verandas opening 

which is used on battleships to hold them from the parlors. These verandas have the 

steady while firing heavy guns. Other novel same privacy and seclusion as does a ve- 

features are the passenger elevators, open randa at home. 




MOST MAGNIFICENT LAKE BOAT EVER BUILT=-Length, 400 ft.; beam, 54 ft.; from guard to 
guard, 90 ft.; horse-power, 7,000; speed, 20 miles per hour; freight capacity, 110 carloads; passenger 
capacity, 4,500; exclusive deck verandas opening from parlor staterooms. 




MECHANICAL DIVINING=ROD FOR 
LOCATING WATER 



The old village wizard followed by troops 
of wide-eyed children and half-credulous 
adults as he goes forth with his forked 
stick of witch-hazel to locate water has 
been deposed by a machine. The apparatus 
is the invention of a Swiss engineer and 
has a magnetic needle which oscillates 
violently when the instrument is placed 
above a spring. 

*—* 

RECIPE FOR VIOLET ANILINE INK 



Dissolve 1 oz. of the best violet aniline in 
4 oz. hot alcohol. When thoroughly dis- 
solved add 1 gal. boiling water. The cost 
will be about 60 cents. 



For Locating Springs 



Pulverized glue is the best form for the 
small shop, as it can be prepared quickly as 
required, and thus will always be strong 
and sweet. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



181 



DEMAND IN THE NAVY FOR 
ELECTRICIANS 



The Navy Offers Fine Opportunity for Men Skilled 

in Electrical Work==Description of the Train= 

ing of Men in the Electrical 

Branch of the Navy 



There is an increased demand for elec- 
tricians in the navy; not for specialists in 
any particular branch of electrical science, 
but for all around practical men, who can 
manipulate and care for the many types of 
electrical machines used for various pur- 
poses on a modern ship. Each new battle- 
ship, in turn ; becomes the most complete 
electrical plant to be found anywhere. This 
seems incredible, and yet when power, va- 
riety and diversity of machinery is consid- 
ered, it is an undoubted fact. Such a ship 
as the "Connecticut" (16,000-ton battle- 
ship), just completed at the navy yard, 
New York, will have some thirty expert 
electricians on board, to care for the elec- 
trical machinery and appliances, and it will 
require the complete attention of all these 
men to safeguard and manipulate this large 
power plant. There are six vessels of this 
type now approaching completion. This 
being the case, the navy must educate and 
train its own force, and this it does in two 
schools, yearly growing in size and impor- 
tance. These schools are located in New 
York, and at Mare Island, Cal., and to one 
of these schools each new electrician en- 
listing in the naval service is first sent. No 
matter what the former electrical experi- 
ence of the recruit has been, in these schools 
he will find new subjects for thought and 
study, and no man has ever completed his 
course without admitting that his electrical 
knowledge and usefulness has largely in- 
creased. 

Who the Students Are.— Students at these 
' schools are regularly enlisted men. Some 
come from ships, where they have shown 
aptitude for electrical work; some from 
power plants ashore, without previous naval 
service; some from telegraph offices; some 
from telephone companies, and some from 
schools of technology. Each finds some- 
thing to learn, whether it is the various 
forms of "wireless telegraph" installation, 
or merely naval methods of accomplishing 
work in hand. 

All enter on an equal footing with the 
rating of electrician third class, spend five 
months at the school, and complete the 
course in a rating determined by. the abil- 
ity and industry displayed by them. 

What the Course Consists of.— The course 



at these schools is unique, in that there are 
no classes. Instruction is individual. Lit- 
tle time is spent on what is an old story, 
and all possible time is devoted to what is 
new. The work is divided into four parts 
and the student is examined and qualified 
in each as soon as possible. These depart- 
ments are: 

(1) The theory class; devoted to those 
men who have never studied the principles 
of electricity, and to a description of the 
appliances used on shipboard. Many a man 
who has proved himself a good mechanic,- 
and whose experience has been entirely 
practical, here learns for the first time rea- 
sons that control his methods. 

(2) The mechanical class; where prac- 
tical instruction is given in a machine 
shop. Here the student learns to file and 
chip, to handle the planer and lathe, to as- 
semble and run a steam engine. Instruc- 
tion is also given in the use of oil engines 
and storage batteries which are used for 
power at wireless telegraph stations. 

(3) The practical class in electricity: 
puts into practice the elements learned in 
the first department, stands dynamo watches 
on the ship "Hancock," winds armatures, 
handles search-lights, and goes over each 
form of apparatus in use on shipboard. A 
large shop contains various generators, mo- 
tors, and storage batteries and instruments 
for this purpose. Having now covered the 
ground of general electricity, the student 
comes to i 

The Wireless Class. — The equipment of 
this class is very complete. The question of 
the most efficient apparatus for naval ships 
having never been determined upon, it be- 
comes necessary to be familiar with all, and 
complete sets of every important type are 
mounted for practical use. Every graduate 
becomes a wireless operator, more or less 
expert, according to his capabilities. There 
are many men in this country with a pro- 
found knowledge of the workings of wire- 
less telegraphy, but few of these are opera- 
tors; there are many capable wireless opera- 
tors, but few have any real knowledge of 
their instruments. Those who complete the 
course in this class are therefore superior in 
all respects to the theorist on the one hand 
and to the mere operator on the other. 

It can be seen that a man who completes 
the course in either of these schools must be 
a good practical electrician, and need never 
fear that he will be without work, while 
electricity is used as a power. 

Liberty and Recreation.— The home of the 
men in the class on the East coast is on the 



182 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



receiving ship "Hancock," at the New York 
Navy Yard, where they have their mess and 
keep their clothes. Leave of absence to 
visit the city, out of working hours, is fre- 
quently granted to the men of the school 
whoge conduct warrants the privilege. 

Books are furnished by the government, 
and attendance at electrical lectures in New 
York City and Brooklyn is encouraged. En- 
tertainments on the receiving ship furnish 
amusement for those who cannot find it 
ashore, and the ship's library affords facili- 
ties for study and pleasure reading. A high 
order of conduct is demanded, so that the 
tone of the school is constantly growing 
better. This brings us to the future of the 
men undergoing the course of instruction. 

Their Future Career.— Upon the comple- 
tion of their course in this school men are 
sent to ships and wireless stations. Any 
capable man can leave the school with a 
naval rating of electrician second class, and 



the more successful as electricians first 
class. This leaves but one grade to be at- 
tained by faithful sea-service, that of chief 
electrician, who is in charge of the plant on 
board his ship, and deals directly with his 
officers. The pay of chief electrician with 
a permanent appointment is $70 per month. 
When all things are considered— the cer- 
tain pay; the government's provision for 
food, lodging, medical attendance, all in ad- 
dition to the pay of their rate; the gratuity 
on re-enlistment within four months of four 
months' pay; the increased pay with each 
succeeding enlistment; care in old age; the 
opportunity to rise to warrant and even to 
commissioned rank; the facilities offered 
them to always save their pay; the healthy 
life — it does not seem strange that interest 
in the navy is taken by capable young me- 
chanics all over the land, who realize that 
in few lines of private employ are greater 
advantages offered. 



SPIRAL LOCOMOTIVE FOR 
ARCTICS 



INTERDEPARTMENTAL 'PHONE 

SERVICE AT NATIONAL 

CAPITAL 



A Minneapolis inventor has constructed a 
locomotive for use in Alaska during win- 
ter. The machine is 22 ft. long, and pro- 
pelled by two spirals, or worms, which are 
said to have produced a speed of 18 miles 




This Unique Locomotive Will Draw a Train of Sleds 



An interdepartmental telephone service 
with central switchboard located at the De- 
partment of Commerce and Labor, is to be 
installed by the government. With the new 
system a great reduction 
in cost will result and the 
clerks will have unre- 
stricted privilege of com- 
munication with the vari- 
ous departments. One- 
fourth of the messages 
sent from the departments, 
it is said, are interdepart- 
mental. A system of tis 
lines, consisting of wires 
leased from the local tele- 
phone company will be 
used. Fifty-one tie lines 
will be accommodated at 
the switchboard. 

•♦ « » 



an hour over snow and ice. Steam was the 
engine power, but alcohol engines will be 
installed in the much larger locomotive now 
building for use next year. The inventor 
has a freighting proposition in Alaska, 
where the unique locomotive is expected to 
draw a train of sleds bearing 50 to 100 tons 
burden. In the locomotive illustrated the 
engines developed 42 hp. It is reported the 
machine readily climbed over rough ice and 
ordinary snow humps with surprising ease 
and success. 



TUNNEL UNDER SAN FRANCISCO 
BAY 



A 12-ft. tunnel, nearly three miles in 
length, is to be run under San Francisco 
Bay. The tunnel will be built principally 
of concrete and used for conveying water 
from a great reservoir to be established in 
the Calaveras valley in the hills of Alameda 
county. A shaft 125 ft. deep will be sunk 
and the tunnel will be run through a bed 
of clay 95 ft. thick that underlies the bay- 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



183 



LATEST FRENCH MILITARY MOTOR- 
CYCLE ON RAILS 



jggggBUSSSBBBBSM 


; ' 






"'■•"."" 








Sk. 






Uttl 


Jjgy. 




[—'••': 


* ■■ ■ 


Bid 


jFy 


IHr^ 






f.r" " fl 




HL^^jygHHHM^ 


B «-* !rf F- 


J2jgjfl| 


kg* M 

* 










Bf ' 




0000$^ 


jj^f 8 *^^^ 













A new type of motor-propelled vehicle for 
military purposes is being tested in France. 
The machine is called a quadrant motor- 
cycle and is for use on railways. It has 



two seats in front and two behind and is 
equipped with a 2-hp. motor. The speed is 
said to be 18% miles per hour and steep 
grades are negotiated with ease. 



SUBMARINE DIVER DESCENDS 204 
FEET AND LIVES 



At what depth can a diver carry out his 
functions? How long can he remain under 
the surface? What is the effect of high air 
pressures on the human system? One well 
known firm of submarine engineers limits 
the depth of descent to 25 fathoms, or say, 
150 ft., says Pall Mall Gazette. But opera- 
tions have been carried out at greater 
depths than this, and perhaps the greatest 
distance below the surface at which a diver 
has succeeded in working is 34 fathoms, or 
204 ft. This was accomplished by James 
Hooper, who descended to the ship "Cape 
Horn," sunk off Pichidanque, South Amer- 
ica, and sustained a pressure of 88% lbs. 
on every square inch of his body. 

Another remarkable feat was that of 
Alexander Lambert, who recovered $350,000 
in gold coin from the steamship "Alphonso 



XII.," sunk off Point Gando, Grand Canary, 
in nearly 30 fathoms of water, the actual 
depth of the , treasure room being 26% 
fathoms, or 160 ft. This man also per- 
formed the daring feat of stopping the 
flooding of the Severn Tunnel when a door 
in the drainage tunnel had been left open. 
The door was situated a quarter of a mile 
distant from the shaft, but equipped in his 
diving dress he crept that distance 
through a narrow passage full of water 
and closed the door. This plucky act en- 
abled the pumps to overcome the volume 
of water which was flooding the working 
and allowed the completion of the tunnel. 

A further interesting case of deep diving 
is that of Angel Erostarbe, who succeeded 
in recovering silver bars valued at $45,000 
from the steamer "Skyro," sunk off Cape 
Finisterre in over 30 fathoms. In this case 
the diver had to blow away portions of 
the vessel with dynamite. 



184 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



MODERN GLASS=COVERED HOUSE 
FOR WINTER GARDENS 



The long, narrow glass houses used by so 
many market gardeners are obsolete. It Is 
just as well to throw all the enclosed space 
under one roof, so far as success is con- 
cerned, and even better on the score of con- 
venience. An Oregon man who tore down 
his old glass buildings and erected in their 
place one large, new building, 60 ft. wide 
and 150 ft. long, tells how he did it. 

The foundation walls were of rough stones 
picked up from the fields and put in a 
trench 1 ft. deep till they reached ground 
level. On top of these was built a concrete 
wall 4 in. high and 6 in. wide. The house 
was built with one-fifth pitch gable roof, 
having sash-bars 32 ft. long on each side. 
This brought the ridge 15 ft. above the 




Interior of Glass=Covered House 

beds; and the side walls of glass were 3 ft. . 
from the wall to the top of the plate. The 
south end of the building was covered with 
glass to a height of 5 ft., and the north end 
to a height of 2 ft.; the rest of the gables 
was closed up with lumber. 

Four purlins, two on each side, were run 
the whole length of the house. Each of these 
was supported by 17 posts and the posts 
were tied and braced sidewise, and two 
braces near the south end used to brace the 
house lengthwise. The sash bars were 1% 
by 2% in., with upper corners rabbeted and 
the glass was 14 by 14 in. lapped f ff in., im- 
bedded in putty and fastened by nailing a 
strip %• by % by 10 in. long above each end. 
Eight courses of glass were laid and then a 
board 8 in. wide, which serves as a walk 
when it is necessary to repair the roof, was 
put on. 

In the south end were made four doors, 
each 3 ft. wide and in the north end three 



3-ft. doors and one 10-ft. door to admit a, 
team and wagon when hauling manure for 
the beds. These doors provide the only 
means of ventilation necessary. When the 
temperature within is too high, the doors 
are opened until it is right. 

Among the principal items of expense 
were: lumber, $150; putty, $17; concrete, 
$8; nails and bolts, $10; coal-tar (for paint- 
ing wood-work), $8. Besides these was the 
grass. In a large building of this kind the 
beds can be laid out to much greater ad- 
vantage and none of the space is ldst. The 
Rural New-Yorker says all the usual mar- 
ket products, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, 
celery, cauliflower and cabbage plants, etc., 
may be grown with success. 
*-»-* 

THE OPTICAL LEVER 



Instrument Measures One Fifteen-Millionth of 
an Inch 



Dr. P. E. Shaw, of England, has invented 
an apparatus which will make measure- 
ments three hundred times more refined 
than anything heretofore devised. The 
smallest dimension visible to the human 
eye, by the use of the most powerful mi- 
croscope, is 1-25,000 part of an inch, which 
gives some idea of the minuteness of the 
new device. 

It is not only a scientific curiosity but 
can also be put to practical use in meas- 
uring the vibrations of telephone transmit- 
ters, an accomplishment which has never 
before been successfully performed. It is 
possible that with this instrument the as- 
sumed movement of the particles in a wire- 
less coherer can be detected and thus clear 
the mystery surrounding that inexplicable 
device. It may also displace the present 
apparatus for indicating the pulsations of 
the heart, as it would be much more sen- 
sitive. 

The working principle of this apparatus 
is as follows: Suppose a lever were made 
with one arm one thousand times as long 
as the other; then a movement of the short 
arm would be multiplied one thousand 
times in the long arm, but a material lever 
of this kind would not be delicate enough 
for taking small measurements, so a beam 
of light is used. A small pivoted mirror 
in revolving an invisible distance deflects 
a beam of light on a scale and thus meas- 
ures the deflection. The optical lever has 
another advantage over a mechanical lever 
in that the angle of deflection of the mir- 
ror is doubled in the beam of light. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



185 




FAMINE CONJN 



Strange Substance for Which No Substitute 
Has Yet Been Found 




The properties of ivory are so remarkable 
that it is put in a class of its own as being 
different from any other substance. It is 
of organic origin but unlike most organic 
substances does not decay with age; indeed 
the best ivory improves with age and all 
the "hard ivory" is taken from the tusks 
of elephants which have died many years 
ago, sometimes many centuries. It seems 
strange that after all this seasoning an ivory 
billiard ball requires the greatest care, im- 
mediately after making, to prevent its crack- 
ing from sudden changes of temperature. 
They are usually kept in a room of even 
temperature five or six days after being 
turned, to avoid this danger. 

As a result of the excessive slaughter of 
the African elephant ivory is becoming very 
scarce. A standard size billiard ball today 
is worth $14, where a few years ago the 
price was $5 a set. This continual advance 
in the cost of ivory has led to the substitu- 
tion of other substances, chief among which 
is celluloid, although a vegetable ivory ha8 
been discovered which promises to be of 
great value. 

A certain celluloid composition has proved 
to be very suitable for pool balls but is not 



elastic enough for billiard balls. Ivory, be- 
ing the most elastic substance known, is 
used entirely in the manufacture of this 
article, and only certain portions of the tusks 
are used, the selection being made by ex- 
perts in that line. If two balls of equal 
weight, one of rubber and the other of 
ivory, are dropped from say a height of 100 
ft. upon some hard surface, the ivory ball 
will rebound higher into the air than the 
rubber. 

Another unusual property of ivory is the 
character of its surface. It has a velvet-like 
touch possessed by no other substance of 
equal hardness, and an expert can instantly 
detect imitation ivory with the eyes closed. 
Professional pianists regard it as a necessity 
in the construction of piano keys and for 
this reason it is used almost exclusively in 
their manufacture. The general impression 
that all ivory turns yellow with age is in- 
correct as good ivory retains its creamy 
whiteness indefinitely. 

The world's annual production is about 
1,500,000 lbs., to secure which 70,000 ele- 
phants must be killed, in addition to the 
fossil ivory from eastern Siberia. The larg- 
est supply comes from Africa. In Abyssinia 







t% 


►'« 


■ / --„-'■ jf ■ : 


HbS is^rf^'' w^ ^--wr ^B \k 


* __ _ 


i. $»" ik- m ''M-^'^^imV'MP^ 


r '' '■■■»'■ hj 


- -4S^<) 



Bringing In a Tusker 



186 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



three-fourths of the proceeds go to the king's 
revenue, while the tusk hunter gets one- 
fourth. This encourages smuggling on a 
large scale, which involves burying the 
ivory in the ground where it becomes 
stained and sells for less. 

The increasing scarcity in elephants' tusks 
has resulted in recent experiments with a 
species of nut which grows in South Amer- 
ica. This nut has a hard covering greatly 
resembling ivory in many of its qualities 
and produces a vegetable ivory much less 
elastic than genuine ivory, but which has 
the essential characteristics required for pi- 
ano keys, and manufacturers are eagerly 
hoping it will prove to be the long sought 
and so greatly desired substitute. The in- 
ventor who succeeds in solving the problem 
of artificial ivory will become many times 
a millionaire. 

The Prince of Wales, who is making a 
tour of India, was entertained last month 
with an elephant drive. The illustration— 
from the London Illustrated News— shows 
the natives with three tame elephants drag- 
ging in a refractory tusker, just captured. 



PREPAYMENT ATTACHMENT FOR 
ELECTRIC METERS 



A-penny-in-the-slot gas meters have been 
common in England for a long time, and 
to some extent in the large cities here, but 

the slot ma- 
chine electric 
meter is some- 
thing new. A 
silver dime is 
made the unit 
of sale, al- 
though the ca- 
pacity of the 
coin holder 
provides for 20 
at one time. 
You can drop 
a dime and 
your light will 
burn ten cents 
worth, or any 
number of 
dimes up to $2 worth. The indicator shows 
not only the amount paid for, but at all 
times the amount remaining to the credit 
of the consumer. 

Every precaution has been taken to pre- 
vent beating the meter (as if a con- 
sumer ever beat a meter!), and any attempt 
to drop in dimes with a string or wire 




attached with the intention to pull it out 
after doing duty, is doomed to failure. In 
such cases a sharp knife cuts the string 
or wire, and the meter gets the money, and 
tells the story besides. 



HAIRS HAVE TEETH 



A person who does not know how a hair 
looks when magnified, would be very much 
surprised to know it is possible to tell which 
was the root end of a hair that had been 
broken or cut. This may be easily done by 
holding the hair between the thumb and 




finger^ as shown in Fig. 1, and moving the 
thumb up and down. The hair will then 
move in the direction of the root end. 

A glance at the magnified hair, Fig. 2, will 
show the cause of this motion. The teeth 
along the sides of the hair act like ratchet 
teeth and allow it to move only in one di- 
rection. It is on account of the teeth that 
the horse hairs used in the manufacture of 
violin bows are not all laid in one direction. 
Half of them are turned end for end so that 
the bow will produce the same volume of 
sound on the up and down strokes. 
*-•-* 

SHRINKAGE OF HEATED GRAIN 



Great loss often results from shrinkage in 
weight of grain that has become heated. 
Corn in normal condition contains 15 per 
cent of water, but this year much of it 
contains 20 per cent. Supposing it were 
heated sufficiently to lose 5 per cent of 
this moisture, a 60,000-lb. car load becoming 
heated in transit would shrink 3,000 lbs. in 
weight, and the loss would be about 2 cents 
per bushel and the discount in price. In 
one instance two cars of corn lost 2,000 
lbs. each in just 14 days' time. 
■+—-+ 

Motor cars figured largely during the re- 
cent English elections, both sides employ- 
ing a large number of cars in carrying vot- 
ers to the polls. Speed regulations were ig- 
nored. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



187 



ELECTRIC PEN THAT NEVER STOPS 

Marvelous Apparatus that Records Sunshine, Rain, Heat and CoId== 
Does the Work of Eight Men 



Of all the millions of people who daily 
watch, the weather predictions, very few 
have any conception of the delicate and re- 
markable electric instruments which through 
an unbroken term of years, ceaselessly re- 
cord tbe ever changing conditions. 

In order to make the weather reports as 
they are recorded at present, the services of 
eight additional men would be necessary if 
such a thing as electricity did not exist. The 
thermometer would have to be watched 
constantly day and night, and observations 
taken and recorded every minute. The 



tion possible, and electric wires carry the 
message of these busy workers down into a 
comfortable office below. The records which 
most interest the public are those which 
write the story of sunshine, cloud and rain; 
the direction and velocity of the wind; the 
temperature; and amount of rainfall. The 
records are written with an electric pen on 
long, narrow strips of paper, and while one 
of these collections of data and crooked lines 
are utterly meaningless to the visitor, to the 
experienced eye of the weather man it is 
like reading a book or newspaper. As will 




Fig. l«Plan View of Wind, Sunshine and Rain Recorder 



weather vane would require the same care- 
ful attention, as well as the anemometer 
which measures the velocity of the wind. 
The services of one man would be required 
to watch the sun and note the total num- 
ber of minutes of sunshine each day, de- 
ducting the time occupied by passing clouds. 
Another man would have to watch the rain 
gauge and note the time of each hundredth 
of an inch in falling. The services of all 
these men would be expensive and liable to 
error, but electricity has proved to be a 
faithful, unerring servant which is always 
dependable and is supplied with very little v 
expense. 

The little 4-cup pinwheel affair, weather 
vane, thermometer, rain gauge, etc., are 
placed in the highest and most exposed posi- 



be described, the wind record consists of 
round black dots; sunshine, rain and clouds, 
of continuous lines. The utmost care is 
taken in the preservation of these records, 
which are frequently referred to as conclu- 
sive evidence in cases of litigation, where 
the question of the weather is involved. 
Important suits for damages are lost and 
won through the ability of one side to prove 
for instance, that no rain fell during cer- 
tain hours of a certain day. 

On entering one of the important stations 
like the Chicago weather office, the first in- 
strument to attract attention is the wind, 
sunshine, and rain recorder. In this instru- 
ment, Fig. 1, the blank record is placed on 
a cylinder A, which is revolved by the clock 
work, C. The shaft, D, makes one revolution 



188 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



a minute and in doing so closes a circuit 
at H and J. The circuit closed at H 
makes the sunshine record, which will be 
described later on, and the circuit closed at 
J registers the direction of the wind. This 
is done by the four magnets, N.E.S.W., 
which are operated by the wind vane, 
Fig. 2. 

This device consists of a large vane, A, 
connected by a shaft, B, to a cam, C, Fig. 3. 
This cam operates four brushes, N.E.S.W., 
which connect to the corresponding magnets 
in the recording instrument, Fig. 1. The cir- 
cuit being closed once a minute, causes a 
current of electricity to flow through one 
of the magnets N.E.S.W., which pulls 
down the armature and makes a dot on the 
record. Thus if the wind is north, the cur- 
rent will pass through the brush N, Fig. 3, 



on its pivot, K, thus making the step-like 
mark on the record. 




Figs. 2-3==Wind Indicator 
Fig. 4==Sunshine Indicator 

and the magnet N, Fig. 1, making a dot on 
the record like those shown. The record is 
divided into hours and minutes and thus 
registers the direction of the wind at any 
given time. If the wind is northwest instead 
of straight north, the magnets, N and W, 
will both receive the current and two dots 
are made on the record. 

The circuit closed at H is connected to the 
sun thermometer, Fig. 4. This instrument 
consists of a black bulb thermometer, A, 
Fig. 4, enclosed in a vacuum tube, B. The 
contacts, C, are open when the sun is not 
shining but in sunny weather the mercury 
rises and closes them. The circuit thus 
closed is connected to the magnet, F, which 
operates the link, Fig. 1, and revolves the 
ratchet one tooth a minute. This revolves 
the cam which causes the lever, G, to swing 




Fig. 5 



To Battery' 
To Magnet Vl 



Records Velocity of Wind 

The velocity of the wind is measured by 
the anemometer, Fig. 5, which consists of 
four revolving cups, A, which transmit their 
motion to a hand on the dial B. This hand 
revolves once every 10 miles, and in doing 
so closes the circuit nine times. It will be 
noticed that one contact, E, is longer than 
the others. This differentiates every tenth 
mile in the record, as will be seen later, 
and thereby facilitates counting. The cir- 
cuit thus closed passes through the magnet 
V, Fig. 1, which attracts the armature L, 
and makes an indentation in the record line 
as shown. The 10-mile mark is shown on 
the record, Fig. 1, a little before 7 A. M. 

The rain gauge, Fig. 6, consists of a fun- 
nel A, and a tipping bucket B, which swings 
when it has received one-hundredth of an 
inch of rain. In doing so it closes the cir- 
cuit at C, which connects with magnet F. 
The same magnet is used for recording sun- 
shine and rain, but the records are not con- 
fused except when it rains and shines at 
the same time, which rarely happens. 





Fig. 7 




To Battery 
To Magnet F 
- Fig. 6. 



Fig. 8 



Pig. 6==Rain Gauge 
Figs. 7=8=-Thermometers 

The difference between the sunshine and 
rain records can be seen in the sample 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



189 



North Wind 



Direction 

oj Wind "\ £ 



Velocity 5T! 
o/ Wind-— "Tj: 



5h:}ting East 



Variable 




lJ W. 



> 



30 



Fig. 9 



Sunshine 
Light Wind 



c/ouds Rain 

Increasing High Wind 



Continued C/oudy 
Calm 



90 Minutes' Record of Wind. Rain and Sunshine 



record, Fig. 9, which tells the whole story of 
a storm which occured last month. At 3 
o'clock the sun was shining and a light 
wind was blowing from the north, which 
shifted at 3:25 and became east. At 3:30 
the sun disappeared and the wind increased 
until it became a 30-mile gale. A little 
sprinkling at 3:50 was followed by a heavy 
rain at 4 p. m. The wind then became vari- 
able and finally died down to a calm at 4:30. 

The diagram of the circuits thus far de- 
scribed is shown in Fig. 10. The current is 
taken from two storage batteries, one of 
which is being charged while the other is 
discharging. The sun thermometer, rain 
gauge, wind vane and anemometer are on 
the roof of the building and connect to the 
recording instrument in the office by wires 
running through conduits. This diagram 
does not show how the temperature is re- 
corded, as that is done in another instru- 
ment. 

A bent tube is filled with a liquid, which 
expands when heated and moves a brush 



fT\ 



Rain Gauge 



Wind Vane 



\ZS 



W 




WMA/J 



-D 



S. W. 

1/WWA-rVWWJ 
Uv\A/W- J \MW- J 



Hwwwv— 

v. 



Fig. 10 



over electric contacts. This causes mag- 
nets, in the recording instrument, to move 
a lever which traces a line on a cylindrical 
record. The recording thermometer is suf- 
ficiently accurate for all intermediate tem- 
peratures, but the maximum and minimum 
temperatures are taken with the thermom- 
eters shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8. 
" The maximum thermometer, Fig. 7, has 
a constriction in the bore at A, which 
causes the mercury to separate, leaving it 
at the maximum temperature. The mini- 
mum thermometer, Fig. 8, has a black 
glass indicator, A, which clings to the sides 
of the tube by cohesion. The liquid used 
is colorless alcohol, and in rising it passes 
the indicator without moving it, but the 
surface tension is too strong to allow the 
liquid to pass below the indicator, which is 
always left in the lowest position. Both 
of these thermometers are set by swing- 
ing, the operation being the same as that 
used in setting a physician's thermometer. 
Chief of Weather Bureau Moore has an- 
nounced that plans are practically worked 
out, which are expected to be utilized with- 
in a few months, which will enable the 
Bureau to extend its forecasts from one 
day to a full month. 

♦<-* 

LOCOMOTIVE AS HOISTING 
ENGINE 



Wiring Diagram 



A locomotive that had seen thirty years' 
service, instead of going to the scrap heap, 
is now serving as a hoisting engine. A pin- 
ion was placed in the center of the main 
axle engaging a large gear on a 20-ft. length 
of line shaft which extends out beyond 
either side of the boiler. The winches are 
supplied with sufficient power to lift 200 
tons by a second reduction of gears from 
this line shaft. 

This novel hoisting engine is used in con- 
nection with a marine railway capable of 
handling 4,000 gross tons. 



190 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



MACHINERY PECULIAR TO LAKE STEAMSHIPS 



By L. F. Wilson 



The big engines of a large steamer is a 
favorite subject for illustration and descrip- 
tion, but the no less necessary, special ma- 
chinery of a Great Lakes liner would amaze 
the landsman. Perhaps the most striking- 
apparatus is that for getting rid of the ashes 
from the fireroom, one or two decks below 
the water line. The idea is much the same 
in principle as the injector, the difference 
being that water instead of steam or air is 
the prime mover; and its velocity and in- 
ertia are depended upon to move the ashes 
rather than any vacuum created. The appa- 
artus is called the "ash gun." Water under 
from 300 lbs. to 600 lbs. pressure is forced 
through a pipe, usually of about 2-ins. bore, 
to a nozzle which is directed upwards into 
a larger pipe which is run upwards to the 
ship's side above the water line, at an angle 
of about 45 degrees. Where the nozzle en- 
ters the larger pipe, there is situated a re- 
ceiving box where the ashes are thrown 
through a hopper directly into the stream of 
swiftly moving water. The latter carries 
the ashes and clinkers up and out at high 
velocity. At the ship's side there is a hood 
designed to stop the stream and drop it • 
quietly into the water. As this hood some- 
times becomes choked the firemen raise it 
when out of port and allow the ashes to 
shoot far out at right angles to the steamer. 
The first stories to reach Europe of the first 
American ocean going steamer was of a 
craft which vomited fire and smoke and 
whose chief means of defense was a great 
stream of boiling water with which to re- 
pel boarders and scald the enemy. Had that 
craft carried an "ash gun'- there would 
have been some real foundation to the ru- 
mor. 

I remember of an instance where the ash 
gun was started through a mistake of one 
of the water tenders, while this hood was 
up, just as we were making port. The stream 
of dirty water and hot ashes quickly swept 
the pier of all passengers. 

At each end of the steamer is situated a 
capstan engine. These engines are double 
and are placed under the deck and are di- 
rectly geared to the capstan. At ports the 
first and second officers handle these en- 
gines entirely with the reverse levers; the 
engines being of the link motion style. Be- 
fore coming into port, the engineer on duty 
turns steam into these engine leads and as 



the links are left at center the reversing, 
lever is all that is necessary to send them 
ahead or back. They are fitted with auto- 
matic water release so there is no danger 
of damage to the engine through condensa- 
tion in the piping. 

The blowing engines are next on the list. 
They are of a common variety direct con- 
nected or belted to the fans. These fans 
are used for ventilating the state rooms and 
for forcing the draft in the boilers. The re- 
frigerating machines closely resemble the 
ordinary stationary installations. 

Among the most important of the smaller 
engines is the steering' engine. This is a 
double cylinder winding engine, so designed 
as to haul the tiller in the same direction 
as the wheel in the pilot house is turned, and 
stopping when the wheel stops. The elec- 
trical installation usually consists of two 
or more direct connected units generating 
a direct current. This current is distributed 
through the ordinary switch board to the 
lights and small electric fans, to the dish 
washing machines, etc. One of these units 
is in action continually and both are run on 
the same circuit when the evening load 
comes on. 

In the crank room of the engine compart- 
ment are situated the pumps. There are 
pumps for washing the decks, for feeding 
the boilers, for pumping out the bilges, for 
fire and for other emergencies. Besides these 
there is of course the inevitable air pump 
for the condensers, and the cooling pump 
which forces water onto all the main bear- 
ings. The air pump and the cooling pump 
are direct connected to the cross heads of 
the main engine. The other pumps are in- 
dependent and are duplex and sometimes 
duplex compound. All of the independent 
pumps are so piped that they can be inter- 
changed; that is; the deck pumps and the 
fire pumps can be used as boiler feed pumps 
and vice vei'sa. The water for the boilers 
is forced into a manifold and then piped to 
each boiler separately. Reducing valves for 
nearly all of the auxiliary engines and 
pumps are used to reduce the pressure of 
the steamer's boilers to a pressure more 
convenient ' for the small engines. Auto- 
matic force feed lubricators are us*ed uni- 
versally, both for cylinders and for bearings. 

A very important little engine is the re- 
versing engine. The reversing gear of the 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



191 



main engine is of the link motion type and 
is, of course, too heavy to handle by hand. 
The reversing engine is an upright cylinder 
whose valve is operated by the reverse lever 
in the controlling quadrant. When the re- 
verse lever is pushed forward the valve of 
the little engine is pulled up, the piston fol- 
lows, and by means of walking beams the 
links are slowly pushed over to the "go 
ahead" position. The position for shorter or 
longer cut-off is governed by the engineer 
independently by means of a hand wheel 
and screw blocks. On the gauge board 
above the controlling quadrant are the main 
boiler pressure gauge, the gauge register- 
ing the pressure from the reduced lines, the 
vacuum gauge, the revolution counter, and 
the chronometer. In fair weather the cap- 
tain or mate on the bridge computes the 
speed of the steamer and also her position 
by means of the revolution counter whose 
registration is hourly sent to the bridge. 

♦ » » 

PERILOUS WORK OF DIVER 



with an ax. The larger intakes are in the 
form of cribs, or piers built up from the 
bottom of the lake, but some of the pump- 



Each spring when the wind blows from 
the northwest great masses of ice are piled 
up on the west shore of Lake Michigan. This 
ice field often extends out for one or two 
miles from shore, and is many feet in thick- 
ness. A large portion of the ice is ground 
into small pieces by the -wind and waves, 
and these are drawn around the intake 
through which the city water is pumped. 
When these intake pipes become clogged the 
pumps are unable to draw any water and 
immediate action is necessary. 

A diver is sent out in a boat and must go 
down in the icy water and clear away the 
obstruction. Frequently large pieces of ice 
become wedged and have to be chopped out 




Courtesy Chicago Jonnuu. 

Diver at Work 

ing stations are supplied through immense 
pipes laid on the bottom. The illustration 
shows one of these with the diver at work. 




A BALING TRAIN 



A hay baler in Indiana whose work takes 
him about the state has rigged up a wagon 
train in which he travels and transports his 
machinery. A traction engine serves as a 



locomotive, a specially built wagon contains 
the baling machinery, and another wagon 
carries the boarding car in which the crew 
cook, eat and sleep. 



192 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



FREEZING AND STORING FISH 



How Our "Fresh" Fish is Preserved for Years 
Before Serving 



A case in the courts recently where a 
fish merchant refused to pay storage on fish 
that had spoiled during the three years it 
had been in storage brought the attention 
of an amazed and scandalized public to this 




Panned Fish Ready for Freezing 

method of preservation. For years past 
most of the "fresh" fish served in our 
hotels and restaurants during a certain 
season has been preserved by freezing— the 
public did not know about it, that's all. 
However, for limited periods the method is 
excellent and it is only where the fish is 
carried over from year to year that the 
matter is open to objection. The process 
is as follows: 

Only fish free from bruises and blood 
marks are fit for storage. Some species 
are split and gutted and others are frozen 
round. At the freezer they are emptied 
from the baskets and barrels in which they 
have been conveyed into washing troughs, 
where, as they pass from compartment to 
compartment against an incoming current 
of clear fresh water, they are thoroughly 
cleansed. At the opposite end of the trough 
they are sorted and "panned" according to 
size and kind. The panning process (merely 
laying the carefully graded fish neatly and 
compactly in flat shallow pans) is very par- 
ticularly done as it adds much to the ap- 
pearance of the fish after they are frozen. 
The pans of fish are then passed directly 



into the sharp freezer through a narrow 
aperture and are placed on the freezing 
coils. In 24 hours the fish are frozen in a 
solid block and the pans with contents are 
removed to the glazing room. Here pan 
and all is dipped into a melting tub, con- 
taining water, cold but still warm enough 
to loosen the fish from the pans, says the 
Cold Storage and Ice Trade Journal. Thence 
the pan goes to the knocking block and a 
blow on the corner turns out the fish in a 
solid frozen block. This block then re- ' 
ceives a final coat of protective ice by pass- 
ing through water in the glazer, and it is 
ready for the storage room. Here they are 
piled in tiers like lumber, the stacks reach- 
ing from floor to ceiling. As soon as op- 
portunity offers they are boxed. The boxes, 
when stored, are elevated a few inches 
from the floor and strips one or two inches 
thick laid between them as they are tiered 
to allow the cold air to circulate. 

From time to time the fish are examined 
for drying about the nose and when this 
appears they must be reglazed immediately. 
Nine or ten months is the greatest length 
of time fish can be carried in this way and 
kept in good condition. 



A HEATER FOR HOTBEDS 



An apparatus for heating hotbeds, the 
invention of a Delaware man, consists of a 
furnace embedded in the ground and a long 
inclined flue for heating the bed. The dis- 
tance between the flue and bed being great- 
est at the furnace, gives the adjacent parts 
of the bed no more heat than the most re- 
mote portions. The openings at the end of 
the flue also help to keep the heat evenly 
distributed. 

The bed, about 50 ft. long and 10 ft. wide, 
is supported by cross poles, an air space 
being left between the poles and the flue. 




The furnace is designed for burning wood, 
but any other fuel may be employed. The 
supply of air can be regulated by the ad- 
justable openings at the furnace and the 
damper in the stack, so that the apparatus 
may be run during the night without requir- 
ing any attention. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



193 



NOTABLE FOREIGN LOCOMOTIVES==No. 4 




AN OLD BELGIAN LOCOMOTIVE==This engine is interesting in appearance, the 
water tank being arranged in front to distribute the weight evenly. The wheels have 
no brakes, but a shoe is lowered on to the rail and the whole weight of the engine 
can be forced upon it. This engine Is used for shunting purposes near Brussels. 



TELEPHONES TO CALL EMPLOYES 



Many concerns which have frequent oc- 
casion to summon some of their most ex- 
perienced men for emergency work outside 
of working hours are having the telephone 
company install phones at their residences. 
Street railway companies and railroads are 
doing this to a considerable extent. In the 
case of shop superintendents and foremen, 
they can often -give the necessary orders 
without going to the works, besides the ad- 
vantage of getting immediate action. 



RAILROAD TIES FROM JAPAN 



The Pacific Coast is noted for its many 
vast timber belts, and for that reason it 
may appear a peculiar circumstance that 
oak railroad ties are now being shipped in 
great quantities from the Orient— Japan es- 
pecially. Yet such is the case. 

The big freight-carrying steamship "Hazel 
Dollar" is now on the way from Japan to 
Guaymas, Mexico, laden with oak railroad 
ties. This vessel is bringing 3,000,000 feet of 
ties. She is being closely followed by the 
large British steamship "Comeric" which 
brings 2,500,000 feet of these ties. 



Up to the present time, the Pacific Coast 
had a monopoly in the manufacture of rail- 
road ties, but the Japanese timber concerns 
are reaching out for the business and have 
succeeded in securing the contract for the 
American railroad now in course of con- 
struction at Guaymas. Other shiploads are 
to follow soon. 

The producers of railroad ties on the Pa- 
cific Coast do not fear the competition of 
the Japanese. They claim that the oak 
ties have been given a thorough trial by 
the different railroads in the country and 
found to possess but little durability. The 
American producers aver that it is the ex- 
treme cheapness of the Japanese oak ties 
that causes any demand for them. 



Alaska tin, it is prophesied, has a great 
future before it. It is now being smelted 
on a small scale at Seattle, Wash., and this 
smelter is soon to be enlarged to handle 
tin ore concentrated at Teller, Alaska. 
♦ » » 

A cheap 'phono rate is being agitated in 
England. The sum named is 24 cents a 
week and if this change is realized Great 
Britain will have one of the lowest rates 
on record. 



194 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES IN SOUNDING BALLOONS FOR AERIAL 
ALASKA EXPLORATION 



From White Horse to Dawson==A Novel Sleigh 
Ride in the Frigid Zone 



Alaska is not alone the land of the gold- 
seeker; every year increasing numbers of 
tourists cross its frozen leagues in search of 
novelty such as is to he found nowhere else. 
Excellent transportation facilities are now 
afforded these persons by the White Pass 
and Yukon Eoute which maintains a mail, 
passenger, express and fast freight service 
over the government trail. 

The regular route is by ocean steamer from 
Puget Sound ports to Skaguay and thence 
by train to White Horse. White Horse is 330 
miles from Dawson and between these two 
points ply wheeled vehicles in summer and 
passenger sleighs in winter. The rate for 




The Overland to Dawson, Y. T. 

the sleighing trip is $100 northbound and 
$75 southbound. The distance is covered 
in a little less than five days, traveling only 
in day time and stopping at roadhouses over 
night. Accommodations at roadhouses are 
not included in the passenger's ticket. These 
places are well-kept, clean and comfortable. 
Meals are served at $1.50 each and a bed 
costs $1.00 per night. 

The passenger sleigh will accommodate 
from nine to fourteen passengers, 1,000 lbs. 
of mail and express, and 1,000 lbs. of pas- 
senger baggage. Each passenger can take 
25 lbs. of baggage free and must pay 30 
cents per lb. for all in excess of this amount. 
Big fur robes and, in very cold weather, 
foot warmers, are furnished for the passen- 
gers' comfort. Relays of fresh horses are 
made each 20 miles and every possible at- 
tempt is made to avoid delay. • 

The rate for the wheeled vehicle trans- 
portation between White Horse and Daw- 
son in the summer is $125. Freight rates 
are 20, 25 and 30 cents per lb., according 
to class, with a special rate for shipments 
exceeding 10 tons. 



If man's dream of aerial navigation be 
sometime realized, a fore-knowledge of the 
element with which he must cope will be 
of inestimable value to him. In various parts 
of the world exploration of the air by means 
of miniature rubber balloons and with a 
view to ascertaining direction and velocity of 
air currents, temperatures and other atmos- 
pheric conditions is being carried on. The 
arrangement by which the self-recording ap- 
paratus for securing this data is carried up 
for distances more than eight miles above 
the earth and then caused to drop at the 
proper moment is very simple, but most in- 
genious. 

The method was contrived by the noted 
meteorologist, Prof. Hugo Hergesell, of the 
University of Strassburg, who conducted a 
number of experiments with it from a ves- 
sel in the Mediterranean. The balloons used 
are not more than 7 ft. in diameter, of the 
best quality of rubber and are black in col- 
or, so they can be distinguished at long dis- 
tances. They are inexpensive, an essential 
feature, as one balloon must be sacrificed at 
each experiment, says a writer in the New 
York American and Journal. Two balloons 
of the same size, but one containing a great- 
er amount of hydrogen gas than the other, 
are sent up at the same time. The balloon 
containing the greater quantity of gas car- 
ries a buoy or float; the other balloon car- 
ries the thermometer and barometer. They 
are sent up connected by a light cord 150 ft. 
long. As the balloons ascend higher and 
higher and simultaneously are carried away 
from the point of ascent, the vessel from 
which the experiments are conducted starts 
in hot pursuit. A cloudless day with low 
wind velocity has been chosen and the tiny 
black specks can be seen a great distance. 
Suddenly the bag containing the greater 
quantity of gas, and which is of course the 
length of the 150-ft. cord higher than the 
other, is seen to burst and fall rapidly, drag- 
ging its companion with it until they float 
on the water and the vessel hauling along- 
side draws them to the deck. As will b3 
understood, the purpose of the balloon carry- 
ing the float is to keep the other from reach- 
ing an altitude where it would burst and 
this it does because the greater pressure of 
gas against its envelope causes it to explode 
first and it falls. 

In this way much valuable information 
has been gathered. The greatest height 
reached so far is 8.7 miles above sea level. 



MONARCH OF BATTLESHIPS 




Launch of the "Dreadnought"==Largest Battleship Ever Built 



England's new sea terror, greatest battle- 
ship ever built, the "Dreadnought," concern- 
ing which so much in general and so little 
in particular has been revealed to tbe world, 
has been launched. The vessel was laid 
only last fall and is to be completed within 
a year. Details of construction bave been 
carefully guarded, but it is claimed that 
the "Dreadnought." will embody all that was 
learned from the Russo-Japanese war, and 
England's naval officers were the only ones 
who were given opportunity to study the 



195 



conflict from the decks of Japan's battle- 
ships. It is said that the vessel will be 
immune to torpedo attack; that her displace- 
ment will be 18,500 tons; speed, 19 knots; 
main armament, ten 12-in. guns', besides 
which she will carry eighteen 3-in. quick- 
firers. She will be propelled by turbines. 

The Japanese at their own government 
shipyards have started on the construction 
of a battleship of 24,000 tons which, when 
completed, will be even greater than the 
."Dreadnought." 



196 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



ALCOHOL FOR INDUSTRIAL 
PURPOSES 



AERIAL CAMERA UNFAILING SPY 



Wherever the cost of alcohol is not pro- 
hibitive by reason of excise duties, its use 
for industrial purposes is markedly on the 
increase. England made a good beginning 
in adapting alcohol to industrial uses, but 
Germany came into the field and the internal 



Reveals an Enemy 30 Miles Away 

A new camera has been produced, which, 
suspended from a small war balloon at an 
elevation of 3,000 ft., makes it possible to 
ascertain the strength of the enemy's ships 
or fortifications at a distance of 30 miles. 




Wide Angle View at Comparatively Short Distance 



revenue restrictions were so great in Eng- 
land that she could not compete with Ger- 
many, where the cost of alcohol is so much 
less. Consequently many of the British fac- 
tories were abandoned, for, while alcohol 
can be produced there at from 16 to 18 cents 
per gallon, the conditions existing raise the 
price to $3.04 per gallon. A committee has' 
been appointed by the chancellor of the ex- 
chequer to inquire into the matter in this re- 
lation, and determine the advisability of re- 
adjusting it. Alcohol is now produced from 
grain, beet root, and potatoes. Germany 
grows many tons of potatoes especially for 
this purpose, annually, and the potatoes 
from which alcohol has been made are after- 
ward fed to cattle, which, it is said, eat 
them with great avidity. France used 3,000,- 
000 tons of beets in 1903 for making alcohol, 
spoiled beets serving the purpose as well as 
good ones. 

In connection with industrial purposes al- 
cohol is annually assuming greater import- 
ance. In the chemical trades it is for many 
purposes indispensable; as an illuminant it 
is said to vitiate the atmosphere less than 
any other save incandescent lights, and in 
Europe alcohol lamps of 1,000 candle power 
are manufactured, while 200 and 250 candle 
power lamps are commonly obtained. Many 
dyes cannot be manufactured without the 
use of alcohol. In Germany 3,000 spirit en- 
gines are at work, says United States Consul 
Halstead of Birmingham, England, while 
50,000 alcohol lamps were sold by one Ber- 
lin firm in a single season. 

In France, alcohol for the propulsion of 
motor vehicles has made great progress and 
is now in a successful stage. 



The balloon is large enough to carry a 20 in. 
by 48 in. camera, but is smaller than the old 
style war balloon, in which the photographer 
had to ascend in order to operate the instru- 
ment. It is not as expensive or dangerous 
as the former method and by means of elec- 
tric wires the camera is under full control 
of the operator while standing on the ground. 
The use of the smaller balloon saves gas, 
enables a much quicker ascension, and 
makes its use practical from the deck of a 
battleship. Demonstrations have already 
determined this fact. While the large bal- 
loons are difficult or impossible to operate 
in a wind, the small balloon can still be 
worked, and in event of accident to the bal- 
loons or their gas generators, the new cam- 
era can be sent up by means of box kites. 

The camera is equipped with two lenses. 
One is a wide angle lens (180°) and is 
used with a 20 in by 48 in. plate. The other 
is a narrow angle lens (10°) and is used 
with a 16 in. by 20 in. plate. The lenses are 
always used with the focus set at infinity. 

In operation the balloon is first sent up 
with the wide angle lens and an exposure 
made of half the horizon. It is then brought 
down and the plate is developed by a special 




Narrow Angle Effect 






ENCYCLOPEDIA 



197 



and rapid process. If noth- 
ing of interest is seen on the 
developed plate the camera is 
sent up again and the other 
half of the horizon is taken; 
but if there is any indication 
of the enemy's fortifications 
or forces the camera is sent 
up with the narrow angle 
lens. This lens takes only 
one-thirty-sixth of the horizon, 
but makes a picture very 
much larger than the wide 
angle lens. A picture taken 
with the narrow angle lens 
will plainly show a fort or 
battleship which appears as 
a mere speck on the wide 
angle picture. 

The inventor of this device, 
Prof. George R. Lawrence, of 
Chicago, in a recent interview 
with President Roosevelt and 
former Commissioner of Pat- 
ents Chamberlain, has decid- 
ed to keep the invention a 
government secret, at least 
for the present, hence the 
most essential details will not 
be given out, as the process 
is most carefully guarded. 

Actual tests of the appara- 
tus have exceeded the expec- 
tations of the inventor and 
have so interested the Presi- 
dent that he called for a spe- 
cial report of the Army and 
Navy boards. If the report is 
favorable the government will 
doubtless secure the exclusive 
rights, in which case the in- 
ventor will realize an inde- 
pendent fortune. 

The camera is a never-fail- 
ing mechanical eye which 
takes in every detail, where 
the most highly trained hu- 
man eye with the aid of the 
strongest field glasses can 
discern .only the largest and 
most prominent features. 
There is no possible way to 
enlarge the vision of man be- 
yond certain limitations, while 
the impression of the' camera 
on the negative can be en- 
larged several hundred times. 
The superior advantage in 
time of war to the nation 



-:■:. 





G. R. Lawrence 

remarkable of its 



possessed of this secret and equipped 
with such a spy can scarcely be estimated. 

Mr. Lawrence has for 
years made a study of 
photographing from lofty 
standpoints, and making 
bird's-eye views of man- 
ufacturing plants, towns 
and cities. It was be- 
cause of the difficulty he 
experienced in finding a 
suitable elevation on 
which to rest his camera, 
that he invented and con- 
structed a novel tower 
for this express purpose; 
a construction the most 
kind. 

When raised to its full height the little 
platform on which the photographer and 
his camera stand, is 192 ft. above the 
ground. The tower is steadied by steel 
wires to hold it from falling and the struc- 
ture is so light the observer expects each 
moment it will break like a pipe stem. 

In fact no one but the intrepid inyentor 
has ever dared to go to the top to work the 
camera. The tower is made of sections of 
fir wood which slide into each other, closing 
like a telescope. The tower can be taken 
anywhere a wagon can go, and when un- 
loaded and set up on end is 20 ft. high. 

It is then raised, one section at a time, by 
turning the crank at the bottom, after the 
manner of the extension ladders used by 
firemen. As each section reaches its ex- 
treme height it is locked in position and 
connected to four guy wires. These wires 
are attached to posts, trees, or other fixtures 
if available, and if not may be fastened to 
screw anchors set in the ground. The cam- 
era is strapped to the platform before it is 
elevated, and is carried up with the tower, 
but the operator must climb the full 192 
ft. hand over hand on a ladder which is so 
slender the slightest misstep would be fatal. 



CROSSING THE ENGLISH CHANNEL 
BY AIRSHIP 



192 Feet 



A balloon of the Aero Club of England, 
occupied by two of the club members, 
crossed the English channel and landed 20 
miles inland in France in just four hours 
and ten minutes recently. At one time the 
balloon ascended to a height of 10,000 ft 
where it encountered a snowstorm and was 
incrusted with frost. 



198 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



FINEST RIVER STEAMER EVER 
BUILT 



New Boat on the Hudson Queen of 
Inland Craft 



By E. E. Olcott, President Hudson River Day Line 

It is a pleasure to comply with the re- 
quest for brief details of our new steamer, 
and to present to the readers of Popular 
Mechanics a picture — taken from the model 
— of what will he the finest boat on any in- 
land waters in the world. It is a long way 
from Fulton's "Clermont" of 1807 to the "Hen- 
drick Hudson" of 1906, and in the creation of 
this latest queen of river craft there has 
been embodied all the best improvements 
which have followed in the wake of that 
first crude effort from that day to the pres- 
ent moment. 

Great care has been taken in the new boat 
to provide every conceivable advantage, 
comfort and safeguard to the passenger. 
No freight will be carried. 

Every place on the new steamer from 
which it is possible to get a good view of 
the Hudson is given up for the passenger's 
pleasure. The large observation rooms on 
the hurricane deck, and the shade deck over 
it, and the bridge deck above that, are all 
open; this is very largely a new feature or 
departure in super-structure designing and 
we think is sure to meet with popular ap- 
probation. We figure on a comfortable carry- 
ing capacity of 5,000 people. 

In the planning and making of this boat 
we have employed the highest skill known 
to us in this or any other country. The 
interior decorations are varied and elab- 
orate; no expense has been spared in the 
use of expensive woods from all parts of 
the world, and the best artists obtainable 
have lent their skill to secure effects of 
color-blending not hitherto known in steam- 
boating. The boat will be almost a continu- 
ous sheet of plate-glass, so that the traveler 
can from any point look out upon the beau- 
tiful and ever-changing scenery as the ves- 
sel glides over the bosom of the placid river. 
Rich carpets will cover the decks. 

The hull is steel, 390 ft. long and 82 ft. 
wide; paddle-wheels 24 ft. diameter with 
paddles 14 ft. 6 in. long, and making 40 
revolutions per minute. The main engine is 
of the incline double expansion type, with 
three cranks, having one high-pressure 
cylinder, 45 in. in diameter, and two 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



199 



low-pressure cylinders, each 70-in. bore, the 
stroke of all being 7 ft. Two huge steel 
stacks rise 70 ft. Five years were spent in 
perfecting the plans, and the steamer is 
expected to go into service during the com- 
ing summer. 



GUIDE POSTS IN THE DESERT 




Stone guide-posts are being placed in the 
deserts of California to di- 
rect lost travelers to springs, 
wells and small streams. 
Every year large numbers 
of prospectors risk the dan- 
gers of the desert in their 
eager search for gold. Many 
of these wander about 
until they become bewil- 
dered and after searching 
for water for hours and 
days, perish, miserably, of 
thirst. The legislature of 
California has appropriated 
$5,000 for placing the guide- 
posts and several counties 
have already undertaken 
the work. Thousands of 
posts will be erected during 
the spring and it is expect- 
ed that the number of deaths will be greatly 
decreased by this means. 



Victor Wheeler, and several other boys at 
Great Falls, Montana, have built and are 
operating a wireless telegraph for a dis- 
tance of about 2,000 ft. 



NEW FIRE-FLOAT FOR LONDON 

A new fire-float, the "Beta," has been 
added to the fire protection facilities of Lon- 
don. The vessel is 100 ft. long, with a beam 
of 16 ft. 6 in. and a water draught of 40 in. 
The low draught enables her to pass under 
bridges at all states of the tide. The vessel 




London Fire Boat 

is fitted with twin-screw engines, two water- 
tube boilers and four fire pumps with a dis- 
charge of 4,000 gals, of water per minute 
at 140 lb. pressure per sq. in. On her trials 
she steamed 12 miles per hour. 

London is far behind other large cities of 
the world in her Are protection equipment, 
but of late she has been adopting American 
methods. 



PUMPS 140,000 GALLONS A MINUTE 




Pumps 2,300 Gallons a Second 



One of the largest rotary pump plants in 
the world has been erected for the Neches 
Canal Company, of Beaumont, Texas. This 
-plant, which will be used 
for irrigating purposes, 
will discharge at the rate 
of 140,000 gals, a minute 
or 23 gals, in one-hun- 
dredth of a second. The 
impellers are 58 ^ in. in 
diameter and displace 2,- 
512 gals, at each revolu- 
tion. 

The pumps are direct 
connected to an 18 by 38 
by 48 in. compound con- 
densing corliss engine by 
a shaft 11 in. in diameter 
with bearings 30 in. long. 
The keys in the couplings 
are made of babbitt in- 
stead of steel, to prevent 
breaking should a piece of 
wood be drawn into the 
pump. 



200 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A SHELL 
BURSTS 



The average citizen who is accustomed to 
reading of shells and other munitions of 
war rarely has the faintest conception of 
the fearfully devastating effect that results 
when a shell explodes. The accompanying 




Fragments of Bursted Shell 

picture, for the original of which we are 
indebted to the Journal of the United States 
Artillery, gives a vivid account of a test 
shot recently fired at one of the proving 
grounds. 

The shell, which was known as a 6-in. 
A. P. shell, originally weighed 102% lbs.; 
the recovered fragments aggregated 94 3-16 
lbs., of which the largest piece weighed 
10% lbs. The average weight of the pieces 
was 2 5-16 ozs. The shell which was loaded 
with black powder on being fired from the 
gun passed through six inches of hard-faced 
Krupp plate, and burst when about 8 ft. 
beyond. Arrangements had previously been 
made for the recovery of as large a num- 
ber of the fragments as possible. 

When the count was made there were 



almost 650 pieces. Had the projectile burst 
in a group of men the fatal results can 
easily be imagined. 



AEROPLANE PLUNGES 1,800 FEET 
TO EARTH „ 



At a height of 1,800 ft. and with a daring 
aeronaut clinging to the frail framework. 
Prof. John J. Montgomery's aeroplane took 
a sudden downward plunge to the earth, 
during a recent trial at Oakland, Cal. Hor- 
ror-stricken crowds, remembering the fatal- 
ity of last summer, watched the erratic de- 
scent of the air machine, which described 
short circles as it fell and twice righted 
itself. The aeronaut strove frantically to 
control the craft and when near the earth it 
floated on even keel; then fell again. The 
maehine was wrecked, but the rider was un- 
injured beyond a few bruises and cuts. 



* » ♦ 



LONG DISTANCE SEARCHLIGHT 



A powerful searchlight that throws its 
rays 7% miles, so that objects at a dis- 
tance of 6% miles can be plainly seen is 
being tested in Switzerland. The light is 
placed at an altitude of 3,600 ft. and is of 
1,000,000 candle power, being run by 24 hp. 
The diameter of the projector is 3.28 ft. The 
light can be handled by wire from a dis- 
tance of 656 ft. from a motor car which is 
used to transport it. 



HOW BROKEN BONES LOOK 



The old saying that nobody knows what 
is inside of him no longer holds good, 
and surgeons now make 
frequent use of the 
X-ray in making a 
photograph of broken 
bones before setting the 
fracture. 

The a c c o m panying 
skiagraph shows both 
bones of the leg be- 
tween the knee and 
ankje as they looked 
when broken. Not all 
fractures require X-ray 
photographs ; in this 
case the bones had 
broken a second time. 

The illustration is reproduced from the Jour- 
nal of the American Medical Association. 







ENCYCLOPEDIA 



201 



NOTABLE FOREIGN LOCOMOTIVES- =No. 3 







1 

V 


.1 


> ^'"tM 






■ ■ U 
t 
i 


H 

■-v.* ;'fl|*-: 








n 


»- * 




?$ 








ESMiSM- 


V H 






■»* 


i 


' I *%_ 




-.---. . ■ . .„-* «5*rfS., ! 


ngpr " 






k 


' Hk K 


Jl '* 1 « 


* - ? .' 


«.«.• 




! 




— *' 
« ■■ ' ill 


^^ 


_. ^^' „-.:-- ?i - -"Z-. 


Lr£ 


§£z 


w^r*^*^ ■" . 


r"«»~"~X" — -"T" 


■ ■. '- 



ROYAL ENGINE == CHINESE IMPERIAL RAILWAY -This locomotive was built in America and is 
used on state occasions. When the photograph was taken it was attached to a special train which was 
used by the Empress of China. The decorations of flags and trimmings were of the finest silk woven 
in the most exquisite texture, and showing the royal colors. The passage of the train throughout the 
trip was regarded with great awe by the people, who prostrated themselves on the ground as it passed. 



»NON=SINKABLE" BATTLESHIP 
PROPOSED 



An American battleship of 24,000 tons, 
which shall be not only the greatest fighting 
machine afloat, but actually "non-sinkable" 
is proposed in a Senate bill introduced by 
Chairman Hale of the committee on naval 
affairs. The new ship would be named the 
"Constitution," have a speed of 20. knots, and 
"have a lighter draft of water than any 
other ship of her size in the world, thus 
enabling the vessel to enter any port with 
practicable commercial depth of water, and 
with impunity smash everything within dis- 
tance of her guns." The cost is estimated 
at $10,000,000. 



The stern-frame for the new 25-knot tur- 
bine Cunarder, now being built in England, 
weighs, including the rudder, 220 tons. The 
cast is one of the largest ever made in 
the history of shipbuilding and has attracted 
considerable attention. 



LARGEST LAKE CRAFT EVER 
BUILT 



The four largest fresh water boats in the 
world are under process of construction at 
the yards of the Chicago Shipbuilding Com- 
pany, South Chicago. These boats will be 
ready to launch in the spring and will be 
used for carrying ore on the great lakes. 
They are constructed of steel, are 600 ft. 
long, 58 ft. beam and 32 ft. high. They will 
be equipped with Scotch boilers and triple 
expansion engines. 

Instead of having a number of hatches, 
each boat has one immense hatch extending 
nearly the whole length of the boat. This 
arrangement, which has recently proved to 
be a success, will greatly facilitate loading 
jind will make it possible to put 10,000 tons 
of iron ore in one of these boats in one and 
a half hours. 

The cost of carrying the ore will be re- 
duced to 1 mill per ton per mile. The cheap- 
est railroad rate is 3 mills Der ton Der mile. 



202 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




'■^m^,*^m^m^M^ii., 






LATEST CANADIAN-BUILT 
LOCOMOTIVE 



HARNESSED FERRETS CARRY 
LEAD LINES 



The Canadian Pacific railway has turned 
out the first locomotives at its new shops 
in Montreal. The illustration shows the 
first engine, intended for either freight or 
passenger service. It is a simple engine 
using superheated steam; weighs 192,000 
lbs.; cylinders 21 in. by 28 in.; with engi- 
neer's cab placed well forward. We are 
indebted to H. H. Vaughan, superintendent 
of motive power, for the photograph. 



The telephone company that uses jointed 
rods to put the lead lines through under- 
ground conduit systems is behind the times, 
The modern, approved and inexpensive 
method is to put a tiny harness on a ferret, 
attach a light fishing line and lure the little 
animal through by means of a piece of meat 
hung at the next manhole. One company 
starts a rat through ahead of the ferret, 
instead of using bait. 



NEW GASOLINE- ELECTRIC MOTOR FOR 
STEAM ROADS 



"Ready, Fire!" 

It was the chief engineer who spoke, and 
his assistant who pulled a trigger which 
looked as if it might be part of a shot gun; 
In fact it did belong to a gun, which was 
loaded with a blank cartridge of black pow- 
der. The explosion which occurred was im- 
mediately followed by the springing into 
action of a great mass of what appeared to 



be complicated machinery; at the same time 
the car with its load of guests moved grace- 
fully along the track. 

The occasion was ' a demonstration of a 
new gasoline-electric car designed for use 
on steam roads. The car itself is a com- 
bination passenger and baggage, 65 ft. long, 
weighing 65 tons, and, including the smok- 
ing room, seats 52 passengers. The engine 




Gasoline-Electric Car, 65 Ft. Long, Pour Compartments 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



203 




Gas Engines and Electric Generator of New Car 



room is at one end of the car with a fair- 
sized baggage room separating it from the 
passenger compartment. 

The gasoline engine is considered the most 
powerful unit yet constructed for this kind 
of work, and develops 160 hp. at 450 rev- 
olutions per minute. The six cylinders are 
horizontal, opposed, 9 in. diameter with 10- 
in. stroke, and water cooled. The gasoline 
tank is beneath the car, and a mixing de- 
vice heats the gas before it passes into the 
cylinders. The generator is a direct con- 
nected, 120-kw., 600-volt, six-pole machine. 
One standard electric railway motor is 
placed on each truck. The movement " of 
the car can be controlled from either end. 
The gas engines were built in Birmingham, 
England; the electrical equipment and the 
installation was made by the General Elec- 
tric Company. The trial trip was from 
Schenectady to Saratoga at an average 
speed of 35 miles an hour. 



CEMENT=COVERED TELEGRAPH 
P0LE5 



Between the climate and the ants wooden 
poles for carrying electric wires have had a 
short life in parts of India. Three years ago 
the experiment was made of covering the 
pole with cement which is held in place by 
means of wire netting fastened to the pole. 
The test has been very satisfactory, and the 
cement coating has been applied to poles as 
long as 46 ft. It is hoped the life of the 
cement covered pole will be as long as that 
of an iron one, in which case the cement 
process will displace iron on account of the 
great difference in cost. - 

Many railroad men predict cement railway 
construction: a line of cement telegraph and 
telephone poles extending from New York 
to San Francisco; cement ties in place of the 
present wood ejn sleepers; and cement bridges; 
already in use. 



204 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



ENGINE ROOM OF A TURBINE STEAMER 




Through these Metal Tunnels the Steam is Roaring 



The engine room of a great turbine 
steamer presents a striking contrast to the 
action of the old type marine engines. In- 
stead of rapidly moving masses of tons of 
shining steel and brass, with the throb and 
jar of the massive engines and whirling 
shafts, there is no visible evidence of mo- 
tion. Instead there are great steel cylinders 



placed lengthwise of the ship, side by side. 
Through these metal tunnels the steam is 
roaring as it moves "constantly in one di- 
rection in its effort to escape, while a heat 
more intense than any desert at noonday 
pours from every inch of the iron shells. 
The illustration shows one of the three tur- 
bines of the "Carmania," with its condenser. 



Near Leesville, La., a 
land company locomo- 
tive recently found 
itself in an odd pre- 
dicament. While pass- 
ing a point where the 
tracks are close to the 
ordinary level of the 
water in the river, the 
locomotive became de- 
railed. Before it could 
be gotten back upon the 
rails the river rose with 
the result illustrated. 



i w "W 


■L Afa^fcgte 


,ar ^ : \?%" : ' - 


. 


*^0 ^_ 


_^ 


■ -./ '/—"""■- . 


■fc^^^ fi s**^_ 


-''. •;:. ■ 





ENCYCLOPEDIA 



205 



AUTOMOBILE FIGHTING ENGINES FOR RUSSIA 



Twelve huge fighting engines of an 
entirely new type are being built at 
Puteaux, France, for the Russian govern- 
ment. The machines are armored automo- 
biles with a Hotchkiss gun projecting for- 
midably from a turret on top of the rear 
of the body and with portable steel bridges 
for crossing ditches and small sloughs 
slung at the sides. 

As an early step in the practical adapta- 



outlook on the enemy through loopholes in 
the turret and front of the car, and the gun 
which fires 500 shots per minute can be 
trained in any direction. The firing angle 
varies from 10° to 30° and the effective dis- 
tance is 2,150 yds. Special steel that offers 
great resistance to bullets is used for cas- 
ing the war-car. It is painted in khaki and 
with all passengers on board and full sup- 
ply of gasoline and oil weighs only 7,040 




Armored War Car with Portable Bridges 



tion of the motor car to the purposes of 
A-arfare these machines are engaging the 
interest of military experts everywhere. 
The chassis is of the standard 30-hp. type 
with springs and axles specially strength- 
ened. The wheels are covered with sheet 
steel, have leather-covered tires and are 
interchangeable. Two spare wheels are 
carried at the rear of the car. By means 
of a special solution in the air chambers 
the car can be run for about 15 minutes 
after the wheels have been riddled with 
bullets. The driver's and mechanic's seats 
are in the usual position behind the engine 
and the engines can be started automati- 
cally from the driver's seat. 

Completely hidden from view within the 
vehicle, driver and gunner have a good 



lbs. Ponderous as the machine is, it is ca- 
pable of making 30 miles an hour on level 
roads and an average of 19 miles an hour 
across country. The facility with which 
it can be handled, backward, forward, up 
hills and across ditches, is astonishing. The 
portable rails or bridges are an important 
and interesting feature; they can be un- 
shipped and placed readily and with ease. 
Each car cost $16,000 and Eussia has or- 
dered twelve more built during 1907 and the 
same number in 1908. 

The cars were inspected by the French 
minister of war, M. Etienne, and a body of 
journalists before being turned over to the 
Russian authorities, and interesting tests 
were made in their presence, in all of which 
the machine was under perfect control. 



206 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



HOW TO MAKE A SKY=BANNER KITE 



The use of sky-banners to announce the 
location of picnics, fairs and other outdoor 
occasions, as well as to advertise theatres 
and local stores will be a common sight 
this summer. Some of the kite operators 
show performing dummies of men and ani- 
mals, which at a height of several hundred 
feet appear to be a genuine performance. 
These are alternated at short intervals by 
pulling in the dummy and running up the 
banner. Such a display made recently over 
the principal retail street in Chicago so con- 
gested the street that in five minutes street 
cars and teams had to stop and the police 
ordered the dummy pulled down until they 
could open the street again. 

The kites may be bought or rented, or 
easily made by any one of ordinary me- 
chanical ability, from the directions given 
below. The kite described is that used by 
E. E. Harbert, an expert in kite-flying. He 
calls it his triangular cellular kite. 



The materials required for a 5-ft. kite 
are as follows: 3% yds. No. 40 Berkley 
cambric or a good grade of percaline 1 yd. 
wide; 20 ft. of strong cord or picture wire; 
a quantity of the smallest size tacks and 4 
strips of basswood or spruce having the 
following dimensions: 

2 strips %x%x5 ft : . .part C 

1 strip %xi/3x5 ft part G 

1 strip %x%x4 ft. 6 in part D 

From the cloth cut two strips AA, and 
two wings BB as shown in Fig. 1 and hem 
all the edges of strips AA. 

To make the frame place the %-in. side 
of strip D on strips CC and tie securely with 
strong cord as shown in Fig. 2. Strips C 
and D should be notched at their junctions 
to prevent slipping and should be notched 
at the ends as shown in detail. Tie tem- 
porary cords FF at top and bottom to hold 
frame in position when attaching cloth. 
Fasten a piece of strong cord or picture wire 



<s 



-S4- 



■60'- 



-M± 



/ 1 J?\ V 



\ li Lj J 

\ 'isTeck^'t i --yf 




F&. 3 



f/g. 4 



F/g.5 



Details of Sky = Banner Kite 




ENCYCLOPEDIA 



207 



at the top of strip C and pass it through 
the groove in the end of strip D, and fasten 
again at the bottom of strip C. When this 
is done on both sides the frame is ready 
to be covered. 

Tack strips BB on frame as shown in 
Fig. 3, using the smallest size tacks. Pass 
the ends of both strips through the frame 
and tack to bridle strip G as shown in Fig. 4. 
Then remove temporary cords FF. 

To the back of the kite tack the 5-ft. 
wings BB on the strips CC and turn the 
edges of the cloth over the wire or cord and 
paste down neatly. 

Fasten the bridle on the bridle stick G as 
shown in Fig. 5 and the kite is complete. 

For flying in a light wind use No. 18 
cable laid cord and for a strong wind use 
No. 36. 

A kite of these dimensions will easily 
carry a 3 f t. x 12 ft. banner, but should not 
be used when the velocity of the wind ex- 
ceeds 12 miles an hour. 

This "is the kite that has attracted so 
much attention in the down town district of 
Chicago, with large sky banners and per- 
forming dummy acrobats. 



SINGLE PHASE ALTERNATING 
CURRENT RAILWAY MOTOR 



FIRST TRAIN PASSES THROUGH 
THE SIMPLON 



The first train passed through the Sim- 
plon tunnel on January 25th, 1906. It en- 
tered from the north at 8:56 a. m. and left 
it at 9:33 a. m. As it emerged salutes were 
fired and crowds of spectators cheered. The 
train consisted of an engine and four pas- 
senger coaches containing a number of em- 
inent persons and journalists. 




Electrical experts recently worked out a 
successful alternating current motor for 
street railway work. This system is spe- 
cially desirable for use on long distance in- 




New Railway Motor 

terurban lines, and is expected to be the 
type which steam railroads will adopt when 
the change comes from steam locomotives 
to electric motors. One trolley line near 
Milwaukee, 20 miles long, and another 16 
miles in length, have decided to use the mo- 
tor shown in the cut. It will operate with a 
potential of 3,300 volts, alternating current, 
but will also work under the 5 50- volt di- 
rect current employed on the city lines in 
Milwaukee. Each car will use four 75-hp. 
motors, making 300 hp. to a car. Current 
will be distributed to the substations at 
33,000 volts and there reduced to 3,300 for 
the trolley wires. 



WALLACE URGES PANAMA 
CONTRACT 



First Train Through 



Former Chief Engineer Wallace recom- 
mends letting the Panama construction to 
some good contractor, or putting the entire 
work in the hands of a competent govern- 
ment official who shall be on the ground, 
and have authority to do things. He states 
the necessity of submitting so many ques- 
tions for decision at Washington, 2,000 miles 
away, makes it impossible to either work 
satisfactorily or expeditiously. In other 
words, do as railroad companies do; decide 
on the general plan and policy and then 
trust some good man to do the best he can 
and get results. 



208 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



FLYING AUTO THE LATEST MOTOR CAR 




A new Paris aero- 
plane and automo- 
bile combined has 
the aeroplane 
mounted on a chas- 
sis motor worked by 
liquid gas. When 
the apparatus is well 
launched on its 
way, the force of 
propulsion and the 
resistance of the 
wind to the aero- 
plane, causes it to 
rise. The machine 
was designed by M. 
Vina of Paris. 



SLEEPING CAR TO HAVANA 



A ear ferry is proposed, and will doubt- 
less be in operation in less than two years, 
between Key West and Havana. When this 
service is inaugurated one will be able to 
take a sleeping car in New York or Chi- 
cago and without once leaving the car be 
landed in Havana. Forty hours is the con- 
templated time, New York to Havana. 



EXPERIENCE OF A 

MAN 



TROUBLE" 



"My first experience on the road was as a 
'trouble' man/' writes W. F. Lamme in the 
Electrical Journal. He describes the cool 
reception he received at plants where the 
apparatus furnished by his company was 
not giving satisfaction, and how difficult it 
was to get any information from the pur- 
chasers; and how, also, the trouble was 
more often found to be outside the appa- 
ratus than in it. He says: 

"One of our salesmen sold an alternator. 
Of the operation of this alternator evident- 
ly a very glowing description had been 
given to the purchaser. The alternator was 
of the well known compound type, belted 
to a high-speed engine, with a flywheel 
governor. The alternator was of standard 
make and all its characteristics were well 
known. The load was lighting, therefore 
nominally non-inductive. The exciter was 
of ample capacity. 

"The report on this installation stated 



that at times great difficulty was expe- 
rienced in keeping up the voltage; the ex- 
citer was much overloaded and two exciter 
armatures had been damaged; several elec- 
trical engineers had experimented upon the 
case and had secured no satisfactory re- 
sults, therefore it was not welcome news to 
be designated for the job. However, the 
salesman and myself visited the plant and, 
as usual, met with a chill. The plant was 
started and everything ran well; the alter- 
nator held voltage with a large margin on 
the rheostats and the exciter was quite 
cool to the hand. The alternations were 
about correct, the engine running at, ap- 
proximately, 250 r.p.m. 

"Retiring to await developments, we re- 
turned in about an hour. Conditions had 
now changed. The alternator could barely 
hold voltage, with all the rheostats out and 
the exciter, laboring under a heavy over- 
load, was quite hot, b ut I noticed a different 
hum from that at the start of the machin- 
ery. This led me to take speed. I found 
the engine now running not at 250 but at 
217 r.p.m. This explained everything. 
There was a defect in the engine governor 
which caused the speed to drop at a certain 
load and to remain there. After this defect 
was remedied the engine held speed and 
the electrical apparatus proved to be in 
every way satisfactory." 



The late Prof. Langley, head of the Smith- 
sonian Institute since 1887, began life as an 
architect and civil engineer in Boston. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



209 



CAUSES OF FAILURE IN THE CON- 
CRETE BLOCK BUSINESS 



The chief causes of failure in concrete 
block manufacture were described by 0. U. 
Miracle, in an address before a convention 
of cement products men. The following is 
condensed from his address: 

Architects as a rule are opposed to the 
use of concrete blocks for building pur- 
poses, and they, no doubt, have some 
grounds for being prejudiced. The material 
manufactured is often of inferior quality, 
poor workmanship and ugly design. There 
is no excuse for treating a material so 
shamefully when it has such great possi- 
bilities. 

Probably the greatest detriment to the 
concrete block industry is the attempt to 



artistic designs as cement, but still the 
manufacturers cling to the imitation stone 
design. This material should be entitled to 
a distinct classification of its own and 
should not be designated as an artificial or 
imitation stone. It is to be hoped that the 
objections to the concrete block will be 
overcome in the near future and give hu- 
manity the advantage - of its great possi- 
bilities. 



GASOLINE-ELECTRIC CAR CROSS- 
ING THE CONTINENT 



An electric-gasoline car passed through 
Chicago on March 5th on its way from New 
York to San Francisco. This is the first at- 
tempt to make a transcontinental trip with 
a car of this kind. The car is 52 ft. long, 




Car that is Crossing the Continent 



produce a cheap article by using too small 
a percentage of cement. This results in a 
porous material which easily crumbles and 
is entirely unfit for building purposes. The 
proper amount of cement to be used is 
easily determined for any given sand by 
pouring water on it. The amount of water 
required to fill the spaces between the 
grains, gives the proper percentage of ce- 
ment, and for most sand varies from 25 to 
35 per cent. If crushed stone is used the 
same test is applied to the stone to find out 
how much sand and cement mixture to 
use. • 

Concrete blocks are often not thoroughly 
cured. Blocks should be kept moist for at 
least seven days after making. The water 
should be applied with a spray or sprinkler 
immediately after the first set has taken 
place or as soon as it can be applied with- 
out washing out the cement. 

No material is so easily susceptible to 



is mounted on two 4-wheel trucks, and has 
two compartments: The forward one for 
the generating machinery, and a larger one 
capable of seating 20 passengers in parlor 
car chairs. 

The gas engine is a sTx cylinder opposed 
type of 75 hp. direct connected to a 250 kw. 
generator. Current is carried to ordinary 
street car motors and when an excess of 
power is being made the surplus passes into 
storage batteries, which automatically feed 
the motors as auxiliary to the generator 
when required. 

Between New York and Chicago the speed 
made was 35 miles an hour. The system 
employed is quite similar to others recently 
constructed. 

♦ » » 

One-fourth the water passing through the 
city mains of New York is wasted. This 
loss has made necessary the expenditure of 
$150,000,000 for additional supply. 



210 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



QUARRYING CARRARA MARBLE 



At Carrara, Italy, whence comes the 
world-famous marhle of that name, there 
are no less than 400 quarries, located on 
the sides of the Apennine range. The 
mountains vary in height at this point from 
500 to 3,500 ft., jagged and glittering white 
in the sunshine; beautiful in the extreme. 

About 5,000 men are employed in the 



V 



sea level canal, whereas the great traffic 
canal of the new world is the Sault Ste. 
Marie canal, a lock canal. Although the 
latter, the Soo, is closed to navigation dur- 
ing winter months, it carries annually three 
times the traffic of the Suez canal. 

"A careful study of the reports seems to 
establish a strong probability that the fol a 
lowing are the facts: The sea level canal 
would be slightly less exposed to damage in 
the event of war; the running expenses, 
apart from the heavy cost of interest on the 
amount employed to build it would be less; 
and for small ships the time of transit prob- 
ably would be less. 

"On the other hand, the lock canal at a 
level of eighty feet or thereabouts would 
not cost much more than half as much to 
build, and could be built in about half the 
time, while there would be much less risk 
connected with building it, and for large 
ships the transit would be quicker; while, 
taking into account the interest on the 




quarries, while hundreds of marble cutters 
and some sculptors earn a living there. The 
quarries have been worked for over 2,000 
years, but primitive methods are still in use. 
Blasting occasions a great waste as the 
fragments are too small to be of value. 



PRESIDENT DECIDES IN FAVOR OF 

LOCK SYSTEM FOR PANAMA 

CANAL 






President Roosevelt will direct the Isth- 
mian Canal Commission to proceed with the 
construction of a lock type of canal unless 
congress decides in favor of a sea level 
waterway and instructs him accordingly. 
The foreign consulting engineers favor a 
sea level canal; a majority of the American 
engineers recommend the lock system. The 
foreigners have been guided by Suez canal 
history.; the Americans by the Sault Ste. 
Marie canal. 

The President says: "It will be noticed 
that the American engineers on the consult- 
ing board and on the commission by a more 
than 2 to 1 majority favor the lock canal, 
whereas the foreign engineers are a unit 
against it. I think this is partly to be ex- 
plained by the fact that the great traffic 
canal of the old world is the Suez canal, a 



Primitive Methods Prevail 

amount saved in building, the actual cost of 
maintenance would be less. 

"After being built, it would be easier to 
enlarge the lock canal than the sea level 
canal." 



WORLD'S FAIR FOR NEW ZEALAND 



An international exhibition will be held 
in Christchurch, New Zealand, from Novem- 
ber, 1906, to the middle of April, 1907. New 
Zealand 'buys' in the United States annually 
manufactured goods to the value of $7,500,- 
000. Its climate is said to be the finest in 
the world. Details i-egarding exhibits may 
be had by addressing the editor of this 
magazine, or the Secretary, New Zealand 
International Exhibition, Christchurch, N. Z. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



211 



GREAT IMPROVEMENT IN FOUNDRY WORK 



Molds Carried to the Cupola to be Poured==Large Economy 
in Continuous Process 



/td/cf//7<? Af<3C/"s?es 



For centuries swarthy men have labori- 
ously carried ladles filled with liquid metal 
to the most distant parts of a foundry. The 
new method is a complete reversal, for now 
the molds come to the cupola in an end- 
less procession from morning to night. The 
result is, for small castings, a, largely 
increased output at a great saving in cost. 

The usual system in a 
foundry is an intermittent 
process. The greater part 
of the day is spent in 
making molds which are 
poured later on. This sys- 
tem works very well for 
large castings, but small 
castings can be made 
much quicker in a foun- 
dry equipped with the car- 
rier system. In this 
method the melted iron is 
not carried to the molds, 
but instead the molds' are 
brought to the cupola by 
the carrier shown in the 
diagram (Fig. 1). This 
method not only saves 
time but also prevents 
the molten iron from cool- 
ing before it is poured. 

The operation of the 
new process is as fol- 
lows: One of the molding 
machine operators opens 
the sand chute at the back 
of his machine and allows 
enough sand to fall into 
his machine to make one 
mold. He then turns on 
the compressed air which 
rams the sand better and quicker than can 
be done by hand. Then he turns another 
air valve which starts a pneumatic rapper 
constructed exactly like a pneumatic ham- 
mer. . This causes the mold to vibrate and 
enables him to draw the pattern from the 
mold without any sand sticking. 

The mold is then placed on the carrier 
which consists of a number of swinging 
shelves suspended from a track overhead. 
These shelves are all connected to a chain 
which moves constantly in the direction in- 
dicated by the arrows in the diagram. 
When a moid reaches the moving sidewalk 



one of the pourers steps on the sidewalL 
with his ladle of iron and pours the mold. 
The moving sidewalk and carrier have the 
same speed making it just as easy to pour 
as a stationary mold. 

After it travels a little farther, during 
which the casting has set, it is removed to 
the elevator which carries it up and dumps 




Mt>/& f/ware/* 



Coo/ing 



This grating has 
causes the sand 



Floor Plan of the Foundry 



it on an inclined grating, 
a shaking motion which 
to drop down through the bars, and passing 
through a hopper it lands on a rubber belt 
conveyer. It is here moistened with a 
spray and then discharged into a rotary 
sieve after which it is automatically con- 
veyed to the sand chutes to be used over 
again. 

The castings are too large to go through 
the inclined grating but roll off the edge 
into the cooling chamber. After cooling 
they, are tumbled and the.: separated in t\\c 
automatic separator. 



212 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Simple Automatic Device for Sorting the Castings 



This device is as simple as it is effective. 
The castings fall through the hopper (Fig. 
2) and slowly slide down between two in- 
clined revolving pipes which diverge at the 
lower end. This allows the small castings 
to drop through at the hopper end and the 
large castings to drop at the opposite end. 
Thus by placing partitions underneath in 
the right positions all the castings' of one 
kind will fall into the same box. 

The advantage of this device is more ap- 
parent in duplicate work where all similar 
castings can be readily separated., 
■» * » • 

AUTOMOBILE TESTING MACHINE 



An automobile testing plant has been in- 
stalled at Purdue University. The front 
wheels of the automobile rest on a plat- 




Testing Outfit 

form, while the driving wheels are on a 
pair of wide pulleys fastened to a shaft. A 
prony friction brake is attached to the 
shaft, Motor Way says: "The prony brake 
used consists of a cast iron wheei with a 



wide flanged rim. Two iron straps, fitted 
with strips of wood forming the friction 
band, extend around the pulley rim and this 
may be tightened or looseued by means of 
a screw clamp, thus increasing or decreas- 
ing the friction on the pulley rim. The 
pulley is prevented from heating by run- 
ning water into the flanged rim where it 
takes up heat from the rim and is evap- 
orated. 

"With the machine mounted in this man- 
ner the draw bar pull is measured by a 
spring balance attached to the driving axle 
of the automobile by means of the draw 
bar, and to the frame of the testing ma- 
chine." 

♦ »» 

MECHANICAL REFRIGERATOR CAR 



Much is hoped for in the tests being 
made with a mechanical refrigerator car. 
The car itself is of the ordinary refrigerator 
type; the system can be applied to any such 
car at present in service. The operating 
plant is placed in a small room at one end 
of the car; power is taken from the car 
axle when traveling, or from a small gaso- 
line engine at other times. A fan main- 
tains a constant circulation of air around 
the car, during which it passes over the 
cooling pipes. Ethyl chloride is the chemi- 
cal used. 



i 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



213 



WHAT HAPPENS AT 60° BELOW ZERO 



Where Food Freezes While Cooking and Steel Tools Snap Like Pipestems 

By Chester W. Tennant, Dawson, Y. T. 



"Look out, or you will drop that 
chisel!" 

Before the sentence was finished the 
tool had slipped from the hand of my 
assistant, and striking upon some bar 
iron flew into pieces as if it had been 
glass instead of steel. This is no un- 
common occurrence when our ther- 
mometer is around 60° below. 

Some of the other experiences of 60° 
below zero may seem strange and 
wonderful. I am writing this on 
January 25; for two weeks we have 
had a "cold spell." Temperature has 
ranged from 44° below zero (the 
warmest) down to 68° below. Some 
of the outlying Yukon police stations 
report 80° below. These cold waves 
alternate with warmer periods of 10° below. 

Strange manifestations appear as a result 
of the extreme cold; one is the way a fire 
burns in the stove. It roars and crackles 
like a great forge and wood in the stove 
seems to dissolve in the flames like a chunk 
of ice; the wood is gone and we wonder 
where the heat went. 

At 60° below, every stovepipe throws out 
a great white cloud of smoke and vapor, re- 
sembling a steamboat in its whiteness and 
this cloud streams away for 50 to 100 ft., 
mingling with the other white-grey mist or 
haze that remains permanent in the atmos- 
phere of the town like a great fog, when it 
is 40° or more below zero. This white-grey 
fog is not fog as you know it, but is frozen 
fog, and every man, woman, child^ animal 
and even the fire that burns is throwing 
out moisture into the air which is immedi- 
ately turned into a cloud of frozen vapor, 
which floats away and remains visibly sus- 
pended in the air. Very slowly this settles 
to earth and in the morning about the steps 
and any protected place, one can see a very 
Qne film of flour-like dust deposited, which 
is composed of frozen vapor. 

At 60° below, the exposed ears, hands or 
nose freeze in going the distance of about 
one block under ordinary circumstances, but 
the children go to school with face and 
hands well protected. The breath, if blown 
out into the cold air, roars like a mild jet of 
steam escaping. A dipper of boiling water 
taken from the stove and thrown out 



into the air at this temperature, gives 
out a peculiar whistling hiss as its 
drops circle through the frosty air. 

Prospectors in attempting to boil a 
dish of rice or beans upon a camp fire 
unprotected from the weather, find 
that the side of the dish which is in 
the fire will boil while the part of the 
dish exposed to the weather has 
frozen. To remedy this, the dish is 
set completely into the fire. Edged 
tools subjected to this temperature 
become as hard and brittle as glass 
and will break as readily under strain. 
I have seen a pop safety valve blow- 
ing off steam when weather was be- 
low 60°, with icicles which had 
formed by the condensation while it 
was blowing off hanging from the outer 
rim of the valve. The icicles' were not melt- 
ed by the outrushing steam but remained 
there for days, through many blow-offs, as 
I passed this station every day and watched 
the operation. All vegetables, potatoes, ap- 
ples, fruit, eggs, etc., can be allowed to 
freeze until they become like bullets. To 
make ready for use, place them in cold 
water half a day before using and the frost 
will slowly withdraw without injury to the 
article. To attempt to thaw them out by 
more rapid process by fire or hot water, 
spoils them for use. 

A frozen member of the human body, 
foot, ear or hand, can be safely thawed out 
by immersing the member in coal oil and 
keeping it there until the frost is all drawn 
out of the member into the oil. This may 
require several hours if it be a frozen ankle, 
or a hand frozen to the wrist; it takes 
about as long to draw out the frost into the 
oil as it took the member to freeze. This 
is absolutely a safe remedy and one thus 
escapes the surgeon's knife, as no bad re- 
sults follow. This is not hearsay, as a man 
was saved a few years ago at our office 
by the night watchman who found him in 
the snow (45° below zero) and both hands 
frozen to the wrists. He was taken into 
the office and treated as above for about five 
hours when all the frost was drawn out 
without so much as losing a finger tip. The 
physicians were amazed as they thought 
amputation would have to be resorted to. His 



214 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




In Denver many of the street cars have no end doors and platforms, and passen= 
gers enter and depart from a large opening at the middle of the car. The climate is 
such that open or semUopen cars are used nearly every day in the year. The car 
shown is one on the lines of the Denver City Tramway. 



hands were as white and hard as marble 
and when placed in the oil they snapped and 
crackled as the oil began to act upon the 
ice crystals'. This remedy should.be remem- 
bered by all residents of cold climates as 
it would save many a limb. The tempera- 
ture of the oil should be about the same 
as that of the living room (about 60° above 
zero). Had I not instructed the watchman 
in this matter, the unfortunate man would 
without doubt have lost both hands. Great 
caution must be exercised during extreme 
cold weather so as not to frost the lungs, 
which one will quickly do if he hustles 
about at ordinary pace. Quick and fatal 
pneumonia can be contracted in a few min- 
utes. Many a fine team of horses has been 
lost in this way, by attempting to haul as 
heavy loads, or as rapidly, as during warmer 
weather. The result is the team is forced 
to breathe fast for the same load draws 
much harder at 60° below zero than at 10° 
or 20° below, as the snow becomes chalky 
and clings to the runners. Two years ago 
a team of mules dropped dead at the Forks 
from this cause and a few days ago a 
woodman lost a fine horse out of a team 
from the same cause. Some men are cau- 
tious and provide breathing bags for their 
horses, which is a bag placed over the nose ofl 
the animal and extending down 18 in. below 
the nose with an opening at the bottom. This 
last week the Northwest mounted police 
have given orders for all teams to be kept 
in the stables and this includes the freight 
and stage lines. The wood teams have 
stopped hauling and the shortage in wood 
has run the price up to $20 a cord. 

One has to be careful about touching 
things with unprotected hands. It is dan- 
gerous to take hold of a door knob when it 
is 60° below zero or thereabouts with the 



uncovered hand, unless -you are careful to 
instantly release your hold, for .if you do 
it will freeze your inner palm in five sec- 
onds, be very painful thereafter, and the 
result is the same as from touching a red- 
hot stove. 

Canned goods undergo frightful contrac- 
tion during extreme cold, and suck in air; 
in summer with a temperature of 90° the 
reverse condition occurs, causing leakage 
and loss. 

Great spikes' used in constructing the 
frames of buildings when subjected to this 
frigid temperature contract where imbedded 
in the wood, (they become shorter by con- 
traction) and when the clinging fiber of the 
wood can no longer control the contraction, 
the shrinking spikes give a great jump 
in the wood and this is accompanied by a 
loud booming noise which sounds like the 
firing of a heavy gun, or as if some one had 
struck the building with a sledge hammer- 
As there happens to be more than- one spike 
in the structure, there is therefore not one, 
but many of these explosions which resem- 
ble the sounds from a target range. The 
same is true of the sidewalks. 

Coal oil begins to thicken at 40° below and 
at 60° and 70° below becomes as thick as 
lard and looks very much like lard, or but 
a very little darker and can be cut out of 
the can with a knife the same as you would 
cut lard or butter. A lighted lamp or lan- 
tern left exposed in this temperature will 
freeze up and go out in about 80 minutes. I 
have not seen gasoline become stiff yet from 
any of the low temperatures that we have 
yet experienced. The extreme cold seldom 
lasts more than three weeks at a stretch, 
and a good part of the year the climate is 
fine, especially the summers, with continuous 
daylight throughout the 24 hours. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



215 



ROYAL TRANSPORTATION IN INDIA 




Elephants carrying burnished howdahs, 
and wearing rich trappings of gold-embroid- 
ered velvet are furnished the Prince of Wales 
by Indian potentates for local transporta- 
tion. The illustration shows several Indian 



uses for the camel and the elephant: 1, In- 
dian substitute for water-cart; 2, Elephant 
candelabrum and fountain (candelabrum on 
elephant's tusks) ; 3, Camel-omnibus carry- 
ing Prince's luggage; 4,. Elephant transport. 



216 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



OVERSHOT WATER WHEELS 



Water powers which once were considered 
of no commercial value are now being 
utilized. Power has a commerce value and 
can be made to earn money; the larger the 




Steel Overshot Wheel 

power the more it is worth, of course, but 
many small powers now going to waste can, 
at small expense, be made to pay big re- 
turns in grinding, sawing and other work. 



Many a farmer could light his house and 
premises brilliantly with electric light at 
no cost, except the putting in of a turbine 
or overshot wheel, and a small generator, 
with a small allowance for wire and fix- 
tures. If the power is some distance from 
the house electric motors will churn, saw 
and grind, and motors and generators are 
so simply made in these days, almost any 
bright young man of eighteen can do all the 
installing from the printed directions. A 
water power, where an expensive dam is not 
required — and there are thousands of this 
kind— is a very profitable, possession. 

Overshot water wheels are now made of 
steel, which has many advantages over the 
old wooden wheels. The steel wheels do not 
swell and warp, they carry more water, 
which means more power, and are made in 
all sizes from a few feet diameter up. The 
illustration shows a steel wheel 40 ft. high 
and 2 ft. wide; it runs a mill at Spring- 
wood, Va. 



MILKING BY BULL POWER 



In many dairies a horse is used in connec- 
tion with a tread-power to run the separator 
and churns. Hoard's Dairyman is authority 
for a most unusual application of this power, 
which however has proved so successful as 
to indicate a general adoption of the plan. 

In one of the largest dairies on the Pacific 
coast, eight milking machines are in use, and 
the power to operate the machines comes 
from a tread driven by a bull. The use of 
the milking machine is said to secure the 
milk absolutely free from dirt and outside 
contamination. 



CAST STEEL LOCOMOTIVE CYLINDERS 

Cast iron has always 
been the metal used for 
locomotive cylinders'. Rail- 
road men have long de- 
sired a lighter material 
with greater tensile 
strength, but the foundry- 
men, realizing the difficulty 
of casting steel in such 
shape and size have de- 
clared against the use of 
steel. The Railway Age 
states successful steel 
castings have now been 
made, and tests show ten- 
sile strength 72,400 lbs.; 
elastic limit 34,000 lbs. 















* ■ n 






HB' ' " 












'. '".Vik '■'^H 












HI 


laaiiBl. ■■■■■jm~ 
BBS . . 5103 Wf 




A 




f?m Bj^ 


k. 






11 IfS 




■-■ -xS ■ i 


l 


I'i '*'^MS&_ 






jp* ' * f^J^tS''-'' 






















Wy ' 












' ". 


A 



Locomotive Cylinders of Cast Steel 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



217 



THE AERIAL ROWBOAT 



New Air Boat Propelled by Oars which Imitate Motion of a Bird 

By Alva L. Reynolds, Los Angeles, Cal. 



I am happy to comply with your request 
and tell the readers of the encyclopedia 
something of my aircraft. The illustration 
shown in Fig. 1 is a fair representation of 
my "Man-Angei" flying-machine in the act 
of flight. It has been given the name of 
"Aerial Rowboat" by those who have judged 
it simply from the standpoint of appear- 
ances. I have been frequently asked why I 
gave my invention the name '•Man-Angel," 
many people seeming to think it bordered on 
the sacrilegious. I gave it that name as 
symbolical of my home city, Los Angeles — 
Ciudad de Los Angeles (the original Spanish 
name), which translated is "City of the 



the cost incurred in building other machines. 
It is the only machine in the world that 
flies heavier than air, or lighter at the will 
of the operator, and can ascend or descend 
without discharging ballast or gas. My gas- 
bag is an ovoid in form and has its equator 
forward of the middle. This is not a matter 
of taste as may be supposed, but is one of 
the scientific and essential features of my 
machine. Any object of this form if thrown 
through the air will always go big end first. 
It is this feature that renders my machine 
self-dirigible and self-balanced, and is one 
of the reasons why it requires no rudder. It 
has no motor or other unnecessary machin- 







^^ss^a? 



Fig. 1 -Rowing in the Air 



Angels" where the idea was born and per- 
fected. 

Figure 2 shows "Man-Angel" as it is leav- 
ing Chutes Park, Los Angeles, on August 
10th, 1905. The position of the wings shows 
the operator in the act of turning the ma- 
chine around, while the picture in Fig. 1 is 
caught while rowing ahead. From the two 
pictures one can gain a fair idea of the sim- 
plicity of the means by which I accomplish 
aerial navigation full and complete. With 
this simple and infallible device I challenge 
any airship in the world to follow my ma- 
chine, and I do not base my challenge on 
what I expect to do, nor what I can do, but 
upon what has already been done. Not only 
have greater feats been accomplished with 
the "Man-Angel" than with any other air 
device, but it has been done at a fraction of 



ery; simply two horizontal propellers, com- 
monly called wings, under separate control 
and attached to the car by a combination 
joint which enables the operator to produce 
all the motions of the bird's wing. 

The exertion of the operator is very much 
the same as that of rowing a boat on the 
water, but the principle is really that of 
natural flight to the extent that it can be 
imitated with the aid of gas. It can be 
operated close to the ground or high in the 
air, absolutely at the will of the operator. 
In other words, the operator has the balance 
of power between gravity and the buoyant 
power of gas in Ms own hands, but let it be 
understood that I do not claim to do any- 
thing unnatural or impossible. 

While the "Man-Angel" can do anything 
that the modern airship can do, and many 



218 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



1 






■-JP «. - 

»-;; .. TV, ■■* - 


s»." Jr '■ 





COOKING WITH CRUDE OIL 



Pig. 2==Ascent on August 10 

things it cannot, it has performed no 
miracles. In my invention I have simply 
followed natural laws and accomplished 
aerial navigation in the most primitive and 
natural way possible. I do it with two 
wings, and use less than half the gas of any 
airship on record, and am working toward 
the elimination of gas as fast as possible. 
Thaf is, the more expert the operator be- 
comes the smaller will be the gas-bag he 
will need to aid him in his nights. 

For military or observation purposes it 
has the following points of superiority, viz., 
it is noiseless, infallible, economical and 
simple, and anybody of ordinary intelligence 
and physical ability can learn to operate it. 
In order to protect my rights it will be nec- 
essary for you to state in connection with 
the above description that I have patents 
pending in the United States and principal 
foreign countries. 



Place your electric light meter where it 
will not be jarred. A store meter which 
greatly over registered was found to receive 
a jolt every time the front door was closed. 



One of the finest hotels on the Pacific 
coast is cooking by means of thick, crude 
oil which is burned with the aid of super- 
heated steam. The burners were placed in 
the hard coal ranges previously in use and 
also in twelve large ovens. The oil has been 
used for three months past, says the Hotel 
World, with highly satisfactory results, and 
at a saving over coal which will amount 
to $5,000 a year. 

* * » 

GASOLINE=STEAM FIRE BOAT FOR 
VENICE 



That the city of Venice should use fire 
boats will cause no surprise, but the latest 
addition to its fire department is some- 
thing unique in fire fighting craft. The 
new boat, which was built in England, is 39 
ft. long, 7 ft. 6 in. beam, and draws 2 ft. 
4 in. The propelling power is a 20-hp. four- 
cylinder gasoline engine, water cooled. 
While the boat is going to a fire, steam is 
generated in the boilers for operating the 
pumps. Fresh water for steaming is car- 
ried in tanks; the water pumped to the fire 
is taken from the canal. Steam can be 
brought up to working pressure in from 6 
to 8 minutes; the pumps throw 300 gals, per 
minute. 

. ♦ » » 

HORSE PROTECTION ON FERRY 
BOATS 



The society for the prevention, of cruelty 
to animals has finally succeeded in getting 
the ferryboat companies at New York city 
to provide the boats with wind shields. 
Horses heated with fast driving have been 
exposed to cutting winds while crossing on 
the ferries. The shields are canvas fastened 
to gas-pipe frames which swing back out of 
the way when not in use. 




The Shields are Canvas 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



219 




THE RACING MOTOR CAR OF THE FUTURE 



REPORTING BY TELEPHONE 



In reporting news to the big city dailies 
accurately and in the shortest time possible, 
the telephone has assumed an important 
place. In matters of large interest, the 
paper publishing the story even a few 
minutes ahead of its rivals has the selling- 
advantage and to accomplish this is the aim 
of every good reporter. 

It is now possible to get in touch with the 
home office from almost any region by tele- 
phone, instead of rushing away to the tele- 
graph office to report, and with this conven- 
ience the reporter is enabled to remaiD at 
the scene of interest, or the seat of informa- 
tion, until all chance of further develop- 
ments is past. In many offices an expert at 
the typewriter wearing a head receiver rat- 
tles off the story as the reporter tells it and 
by the time it is told the copy is ready and 
is being rushed away to the machines. Fre- 
quently the farmers' telephone lines are put 
to service, as in the case of a sheriff's posse 
following a fugitive from justice, where the 
scene of interest would constantly shift. 
Again, in obtaining local news in the larger 
cities, the reporter starts out with one as- 
signment, gathers all the information about 
that, reports it and while still at the 'phone 
receives" another assignment. This avoids' 
loss of time. 

But the importance of the telephone in 
this line is not limited to the large cities. 
The American Telephone Journal says: 

"Papers in smaller towns are extending 
the scope of their news in a manner which 



will do much to assist in their competition 
with the newspapers in the large cities 
which have an extensive outside circula- 
tion. A long distance company in Indiana 
is permitting the use of its line for the 
transmission to papers in .this class of 
news of national interest, embodied in a 
special service derived from one of the 
great central bureaus. In this way the local 
paper which receives this service is enabled 
to place in the hands of its readers, some 
hours before the arrival of the paper from 
a large city, the news of distant events 
which it could afford to obtain in no other 
way than by telephone." 



GREAT TRANSCONTINENTAL 

RAILWAY FOR AUSTRALIA 



A great transcontinental railway is 
planned to connect the west and east coasts 
of Australia. From Brisbane to Freemantle, 
2,500 miles, now takes 12 days by steamer. 
The proposed road would shorten this time 
seven days and develop a vast territory, 
and increase the export trade enormously. 



AIR BRAKES FOR AUTOS 



What with headlights, whistles and now 
air brakes', the automobile operator has be- 
come quite an engineer. Air brakes are the 
latest of the new features and are operated 
by means of an air compressor attached to 
the engine. A storage tank with a pressure 
of 65 to 75 lbs. maintains a constant supply. 



220 ENCYCLOPEDIA 

LARGEST "ROUND HOUSE" IN THE WORLD 




Locomotive Depot Which Accommodates 600 Engines at one Time 

In this country locomotives when not in 
service are always universally sheltered in 
buildings called "round houses" on account 
of their shape. In England the shelters 
are built like long train sheds, but close with 
doors at each end. "Running Shed" is the 



railroad name. One of these, said to be the 
largest in the world, accommodates over 600 
locomotives. The express, freight and su- 
burban engines each have their own place. 
The building belongs to the London & South 
Western Ry., and is located at Nine Elms. 



RESERVATION SIGNS ON FRENCH 
CARS 



On the French railways compartment 
cars are used, and it is customary for the 
station master to hang signs on certain 
compartments when a train enters the sta- 
tion, reserving such cars or compartments. 

Experienced travelers frequently take 
advantage of the system to secure for a 
party of two or three a compartment in- 
tended for six persons. A suitable tip will 




induce the station master to hang a "re- 
served" sign on the compartment as soon 
as the favored party has entered the com- 
partment and drawn down the curtains. 
* « » 

CONTRACTING PANAMA CANAL 
CONSTRUCTION 



Large public works are usually built by 
contractors, and the question is often asked 
why an exception should be made in the 
construction of the Panama canal. The ex- 
planation given is that the location and con- 
ditions are such that contractors would nec- 
essarily have so large an element of un- 
certainty as to the work, they would be 
obliged to bid at prohibitive figures, in order 
to be on the safe side. The problem of sani- 
tation also is so closely interwoven with the 
construction work as to be difficult of sepa- 
ration, and yet this is a feature which the 
government alone can handle. 
♦-•-» 

LONG TRIP ON TROLLEY 



Reservation Signs 



A party of owners and managers of elec- 
tric interurban lines recently made a tour 
of inspection starting from Detroit and re- 
turning to that city in a special trolley car. 
The trip included lines in Michigan, Ohio 
and Indiana, with stops at scores of cities 
and large towns. The distance covered was 
720 miles which is said to be the longest 
trip ever made in an electric car. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 221 

FIRE GONG ON BRIDGE MOVED A LIGHTHOUSE 30 FEET 



In the city of Washington an 18-in. fire 
gong has been installed in the bridge 
tender's cabin and connected to the fire 
alarm circuit. When an alarm is turned in 
the location is sounded on the gong, and if 
the department will cross the bridge in 
going to the fire the bridge tender has ample 
time to clear the bridge of other vehicles 
and to signal any approaching vessels that 
the bridge will not open for their passage. 
The idea is an excellent one and deserving 
of introduction on all city swing bridges. 



AUTOMOBILE MORGUE WAGON 



"Rattle his bones over the stones, he's 
only a pauper whom nobody owns," is 
rapidly going out of date. Fresno, Calif., 
has a fine new automobile morgue wagon, 
with rubber tires and all the latest im- 
provements. Some people who never in life 
had a ride in a motor car now enjoy the 
latest and best transportation when dead. 



LARGE ENGLISH DREDGER 



In order to widen a channel the German 
lighthouse at Wittenbergen was moved to a 
new foundation on the 
same level, a distance 
of 30 ft. Iron girders 
were laid for the track, 
and steel rollers served 
as wheels, while hand- 
operated windlasses did 
the pulling. Steel guy 
ropes were run from 
the top of the light- 
house to frames on the 
ground, which moved 
with the cribwork on 
which the structure 
rested. The Scientific 
American says: "The 
actual work of removal 
occupied 32 minutes; 
the lighthouse weighs 
60 tons and is 115 ft. 
high." 

Experts declare the 
structure as strong as 
before. 



:■':•■',-.■ 








■ ~pJL 


j 


' ' tfiSw 










ffij* 




1 




t ' : ' ' 


• ^ffilfiV 


\'~ ;'~ ;1 






^r ■ ' 






m •>)> 






Ur- 






al 






m ■ : 






Ji\ 




{KTi 


71 


fc"J|fem5w 


fl '' 




'*'.'; '; : :: 


j4 ' 









The illustration, shows the big English 
dredge the "Bruce." This vessel will exca- 
vate to a depth of 48 ft. below the water 
line. When in operation the buckets are 
in continuous motion, the forward end of 
the bucket frame being lowered as the work 
progresses. This dredge will excavate and 
deliver 900 tons per hour. As the buckets 
pass the highest point and start on the re- 
turn, they automatically empty, the mate- 
rial being conducted through chutes to 
scows fastened alongside. The dredge will 
hold 750 tons. 



The production of cement in this country 
increased from 335,000 bbl. in 1890 to 27,- 
000,000 bbl. in 1905. Cement is supposed to 
have originated with the Egyptians 6,000 
years ago. 




This Dredge will Excavate 900 Tons per Hour 



222 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



PORTABLE HOUSE WITH STOVE 
OVERHEAD 



One of the strangest houses ever built is 
in use at a briek works at Menominee, Wis. 
This house has sides, roof and chimney, but 
instead of the usual foundation it rests 
upon wheels', which enables it to be moved 
about as desired. As there is no floor the 
stove is suspended from big beams in the 
roof and not only keeps the workmen be- 
neath warm, but thaws the ground so they 
can dig the clay in even the coldest 
weather. By this means the works is 
enabled to keep right on making brick 
when other plants are frozen up " and shut 
down. 

4 « » 

WHY THE NAVY IS SO EFFICSENT 
AND POPULAR 



A writer in the Sailor's Magazine, in 
speaking of the naval recruiting station at 
Seattle, says: "Out of the almost 500 men 
examined here since June 26th, less than a 
dozen sought to be one of the 'men behind 
the guns' because they were penniless, 
could not find suitable work, and sought the 
navy as a last resort. A fair percentage of 
the men who enlisted made their debut into 
the Navy by opening bank accounts with 
Uncle Sam, the sums ranging from $400 
down to a few loose dollars." 

The young men of the country are wak- 
ing up to the fact that during a three-years' 
cruise in the United States Navy the educa- 
tional advantages which come from foreign 
travel are alone worth the time and work, 
while the life is one devoid of hardships 
and the pay sure and good. 



COOKING BY ELECTRICITY 



Cooking by electricity has received a 
great stimulus in England as a result of the 
demonstration made at the recent electrical 
exhibition at London. Sixty-five guests sat 
down to a five-course dinner, all of which 
was cooked after the diners were seated at 
the table, and in their presence. A meter 
was set up where it could be constantly 
read, and at the completion of the dinner 
was found to have registered 56 kw. hours, 
which at 2 cents, the prevailing price in 
London, amounted to $1.12 for current. 



The Swiss government has decided to use 
electric locomotives in the Simplon tunnel. 




ENCYCLOPEDIA 



223 




A Forest of Iron Girders Supports the Roof 



GREAT DOCKS AT NEW ORLEANS 



Freight House 2,200 Ft. Long; Cotton Warehouse 2,400 Ft. in Length 



The most extensive dock facilities' of any 
railroad in the world have heen completed 
at New Orleans by the Illinois Central rail- 
road. The great wharf extending along the 
Mississippi river is 3,500 ft. in length and 
150 ft. wide. It rests on thousands of creo- 
soted pine piles, the framework is steel, and 
the roof concrete. Brick fire walls 17 in. 
thick divide it into sections of 500 ft. each. 
Two freight houses measure 2,200 ft. in 
length by 100 ft. wide, while the cotton 
warehouse, by far the largest ever built 
anywhere, is 2,391 ft. long and from 100 ft. 
to 160 ft. wide. 

The structural iron pillars in these build- 
ings are surrounded with concrete, and the 
roof construction is equally fireproof, con- 
sisting of several inches of concrete. Every- 
thing possible has been done to make all 
these buildings non- combustible, in view of 
the vast quantities of cotton which is 
handled. 

The transfer of grain, cotton, sugar, rice 



and tobacco between rail and water trans- 
portation is enormous, and constantly in- 
creasing. 




Laying the Concrete Roof 

These new docks and buildings are erect- 
ed on the site of those destroyed a year 
ago in the great fire which raged for hours 
and caused immense loss. 




Concrete Floor in Cotton Warehouse 



224 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



A MECHANICAL WIZARD 



of the superiority of American machinery 
over all the world. 



Harry Houdini, the international prison 
breaker and handcuff king, gave a remark- 
able demonstration in the United States jail 
at Washington. The warden of the prison 
invited him to make the test. Houdini was 
allowed first to examine the Jocks and doors 
and was then taken to a cell, searched, 
stripped nude, and in that condition was 
locked in another cell. The cell containing 
his clothes was also locked. The apartment 
in which he was left was the one which had 
been occupied for ten months by Guiteau, 
the assassin. 

The warden makes the following official 
statement: "Mr. Houdini in about two min- 
utes managed to escape from that cell, and 
then broke into the cell in which his cloth- 
ing was locked up. He then proceeded to 
release from their cells all the prisoners on 
the ground floor. There was positively no 
chance for any collusion or confederacy. Mr. 
Houdini accomplished all of the above-men- 
tioned feats, in addition to putting on all 
his clothing, in twenty-one minutes." 

How was it done? That is precisely what 
the officials would like to know, for the con- 
dition of the test was that the expert should 
be" left alone. 



BATTLESHIPS SHORT LIVED 



The battleship is short lived. Like some 
new garment which an ever-changing fash- 
ion puts aside as unfit for use although but 
little worn, so with the modern battleship. 
It is modern only a few short years and 
must then move down the line to make way 
for the newer, better, larger and faster 
ships. 

From the "Constitution" to the "Oregon" 
was a long step, but no other vessels of the 
American navy so attached themselves to 
the hearts of the people. During that long 
cruise from the Pacific to the Atlantic the 
daily question was "What of the 'Oregon'?" 
And when without an hour's delay, with no 
stoppage of her machinery while at sea, she 
reported for duty cleared for action and in 
fighting trim it did make the Yankees feel 
good. 

But the grand ship "Oregon" has passed 
her meridian; she has now been assigned to 
home guard service, and is ordered into the 
second class of defense, where for many 
years she will still be useful. 

The trip which the "Oregon" made was 
alone worth all she cost, as a demonstration 



BOARDS MADE OF GROUND CORK 



Cork in its natural state is considered the 
most perfect non-conductor of heat and cold. 
A composition board consisting of cork and 
some adhesive materials to hold it together 
and render the product damp proof is now 
made. These boards come in sizes 1 ft. 
wide, 3 ft. long and from 1 in. to 4 in. thick. 
They can be easily sawed to fit; in fact can 
be worked up like ordinary lumber. 

The cork board is used in insulating all 
kinds of cold storage rooms, pipes, etc., and 
in houses, especially those constructed of 
cement. 

•* » » 

NEED OF POSTAL CHECK SYSTEM 



There is a great and growing demand for 
a postal check system. What is understood 
to be the beginning of a general movement 
in all large cities has already been put in 
operation in Chicago. The banks have 
formed a trust in which the large ones insist 
and the small ones dare not refuse to im- 
pose a system of heavy taxation on checks 
from other cities. It means a taxation on 
Chicago depositors amounting to hundreds 
of thousands of dollars annually. This at a 
time when the bank stocks are from two to 
six times above par and several of them 
erecting million dollar edifices in which to do 
business. A charge of 10 cents on a 50-eent 
check is an imposition. The banks and ex- 
press companies of the country will 
fight to the limit against a postal check or 
postal note currency in small denomina- 
tions, but the mass of the people need it; 
they want it; and they are going to have 
it. Some of our congressmen will do well to 
profit by the lesson of recent events. The 
people will not permit themselves much 
longer to be used as mere voting machines 
to put in office men who are there for what 
there is in it for themselves regardless of 
the rights of the public. The sorting out 
process is well under way, and honesty in 
high places is becoming more of a necessity 
every day. 

♦ » » 

Acetylene searchlights were used on an 
English farm the past season, so that har- 
vesting might be carried on at night, says 
the Acetylene Journal. A field of 15 acres 
was cut in less than half one night by two 
reapers each cutting a 6-f t. swath. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



22. r 



PLANS TO CROSS OCEAN IN TEN HOURS 



Proposed Craft is a Roller Boat 800 Ft. Long to Travel 180 Miles an Hour 



The project of the roller boat is again be- 
ing exploited on a large scale. F. A. Knapp, 
the inventor, presented his plans to the En- 
gineer's Club of Toronto. In his address he 
reviewed his former experience of a few 
years ago, and startled his hearers with the 



of the circular prison. The demonstration 
was given in Toronto bay, and a trip made 
down the St. Lawrence to Prescott, a dis- 
tance of 200 miles. Short paddles were 
placed at the middle of the boat to give a 
better purchase. ' Prominent engineers were 



.,^<-"islSfej 




: v 







y 



Roller Boat That Traveled 200 Miles 



announcement that it was possible to cross 
tbe Atlantic in 10 hours. 

The previous roller boat was 110 ft. long, 
operated by means of two locomotives run- 
ning on endless rails within the boat. These 
engines were placed one at each end, and 
rolled the boat forward, by climbing up in- 
side just as a squirrel spins the wheels of 
his cage by mad attempts to ascend the bars 



emphatic in their predictions the craft would 
not advance, but only turn over in the water 
remaining in the same place. In this they 
were wrong, and some old and supposedly 
sound theories were knocked to pieces. They 
said it would not roll, but it did roll, al- 
though the speed was less than expected 
and did not exceed 6 miles an hour. 
Mr. Knapp, who is a lawyer by occupation, 



226 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



announced his intention to build an- 
other and larger boat, 200 ft. in diameter 
and 800 ft. long, which he expects will 
cross the Atlantic in 10 hours; in other 
words the passenger can take breakfast in 
New York and eat an evening dinner in Lon- 
don. The big cylinder is to be fitted with 
paddles, made of steel angles, 5 in. deep 
and extending its entire length. A speed 
of nearly 200 miles an hour would involve 
only 25 revolutions of the boat per minute. 

As to wind pressure Mr. Knapp asserts the 
boat will roll into the wind instead of push- 
ing dead against it. Steering will be ac- 
complished by means of rudders at each 
end. In the proposed boat the steam tur- 
bine may be utilized which may easily be 
done by means of a driving gear at the end 
of the turbine shaft. 

The Canadian Engineer says: 

At the present time he is engaged on the 
design and construction of a tubular boat 
at the ship yards of the Canadian Shipbuild- 
ing Company, Toronto, which it is under- 
stood, will be ready for trial and operation 
in the spring of 1906. It is fully expected 
that this new type of boat will revolution- 
ize the coal trade between Nova Scotia and 
Ontario. 

A New York inventor comes to the front 
with a revival of the water jet boat which 
he states will drive a steamship at 100 miles 
an hour by means of gas engines. The 
scheme is impracticable but illustrates the 
attention which high speed ocean travel is 
receiving in these days. 



AEROPLANE FALLS 300 FEET 



Charles Hamilton fell 300 ft. with his aero- 
plane at Ormond Beach, Florida, but sur- 
vives to try again. A rope 800 ft. 
long was fastened to a 60-hp. touring car 




and to the aeroplane, which resembles a 
mammoth box kite. When the car started 
the aeroplane rose like a bird and in a few 
seconds was 200 ft. in the air. The wind 
was blowing 50 miles an hour and the sky 
craft rose to 300 ft. At this moment Ham- 
ilton lost his cap, the dropping of which 
was to be the signal for the tow-driver to 
stop. As the car slowed down it looked as if 
the aeroplane was the stronger, for it pulled 
the car backward on its first speed notch. 
The plane gave a three-quarters dive, but 
righted, when the rope caught on a flag pole. 
The plane was not greatly damaged and 
Hamilton while rendered unconscious for a 
few minutes suffered no broken bones. He 
will hereafter use two 90-hp. cars in tow- 
ing-. 



FINEST NAVAL SCHOOL IN THE 
WORLD 



Ready for Flight 



A great naval training station is being 
constructed at Lake Bluff, on the shore of 
Lake Michigan, a few miles north of 
Chicago. There will be nothing in all the 
navies of the world to equal it, and $2,500,- 
000 will have been spent when it is com- 
pleted. 

The school will accommodate 1,000 men, 
and the finest naval training in the world 
will be given. Later the plan is to increase 
the buildings to take care of 2,000 men. 
Everything that modern science can suggest 
will be provided to make the place attractive 
and healthful, and Lake Michigan and the 
other great lakes will afford all necessary op- 
portunity for cruising. One or more men-of- 
war will be attached to the station to pro- 
vide the real thing in learning how to work 
the guns and sail the ship. 

The American Navy gives its young men 
a training in electricity, steam, and navi- 
gation which cannot be secured anywhere 
else and pays them well for their time while 
learning. When their course is completed 
in case they decide to return to private life 
they do so with a prestige, training a'nd ex- 
perience which no college or school gives, 
and which enables them to secure the most 
desirable positions at good salaries. 

Uncle Sam is a generous schoolmaster. 

Many young men seem to think it is neces- 
sary to have the assistance of some influen- 
tial congressman or senator in order to join 
the Navy. Such is not the case at all. Re- 
cruiting officers frequently visit all the large 
cities and will gladly give full information on 
request. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



227 



MECHANICAL CA RICATUR E PHOTOGRAPHS 

Extraordinary Results in Picture Making==How It Is Done 



One of the latest and most striking results which have been 
produced in connection with the possibilities of modern pho- 
tography is the caricature photograph recently perfected by 
J. Ellsworth Hare, of Chicago. By the discovery of a practical 
application of a well known fact with regard to the nature -of 
photographic films and their actions under the influence of 
heat as well as the influence of certain well known chemicals 
Mr. Hare has succeeded in producing perfect specimens of 
caricatures by a purely photographic process. When it is 
taken into consideration what an important part photography 
on the one hand and caricature sketching on the other have 
played in the development of modern illustrating the impor- 
tance of the new discovery becomes at once apparent. 

As is well known to all photographers the ordinary photo- 
graphic plate is supplied with a collodion film which, under 
ordinary conditions and at t^e ordinary temperature, is firm 
and insoluble. Such a film naturally will produce upon expo- 
sure an exact impression. If the film is subjected to a. mod- 
erate degree of heat, however, it will become soluble and run. 




Mechanical Caricature of Mr. Bryan 



Dr. Mary Walker 



228 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



In manufacturing ordinary photographic- 
plates the collodion film is flowed onto a 
plate that has received a coat of gelatine. 
This causes it to adhere firmly to the glass 
plate. The caricature photograph, however, 
is produced by the use of what is known as 
a stripping plate, in which the film is flowed 
onto a plate which has been merely edged 
with a gelatine coating. This leaves all of 
the plate but the edge plain glass to which 
the gelatine does not adhere. By the use of 
a knife blade the film in this kind of plate 
can be readily removed, which constitutes 
the first step in the process of caricature 
photography. 

By the application of heat from a gas 
(amp the film can be easily stretched into 
almost any conceivable shape, with the 
drawback, however, as any ajnateur can tes- 
tify, that the image is liable to be blurred 
and ir>. fact hopelessly distorted. In order 
to control the stretching in such a way as to 
get the desired result the film is treated with 
a chemical preparation the ingredients of 
which are a secret of the inventor of the 
process. In- order to better illustrate the 
work, two characters of national reputation 
are selected, and who will readily be recog- 



nized by our readers: Mr. Bryan and Dr. 
Mary Walker. The degree of success which 
has been attained in applying this formula 
in accurately controlling the re-shaping of 
the image is shown in the illustration repre- 
senting a man walking down the street. The 
figure of the man is represented in the pic- 
ture caricaturized while all of the other ob- 
jects shown retain their normal form. In 
the caricature of Dr. Walker, it will be no- 
ticed the steps are scarcely changed while 
the figure is extended to appear several 
iimes its actual height. 

Applying this principle to a single figure 
of a human being any portion of the person 
may be altered as desired, thus producing an 
accurate caricature. The possibilities are 
limited only to the ingenuity of the photog- 
rapher. One ear may be elongated; the nose 
extended to appear a foot in length while all 
the other features remain unchanged; one 
cheek can be inflated like a balloon, or the 
neok stretched to the size of a finger or 
drawn out larger than the body. ' 

Thus by the application of a series of 
simple principles we have a perfect speci- 
men of a caricature produced by purely 
mechanical means. 



NEW AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE 



The illustration shows the new American 
type locomotive, several of which have been 
built for the Central Kailroad of New Jersey. 
It is believed to be the heaviest yet built 
of this type. The service will be hauling a 
134-ton passenger train over heavy grades. 
The Walschaert valve gear is used. Cylin- 
ders are 19 by 26 ins.; weight of engine 
158,000 lbs.; boiler pressure 200 lbs.; height 
above rail 14 ft., 8% ins.; tank capacity 5,000 
gal. water, 12 tons coal. 



DISCOVERS LOST DREDGE 



A dredge-boat which cost $65,000 was 
sunk in Lake Ontario during a storm on 
October 26, 1902. All efforts to locate the 
dredge proved fruitless until a few weeks 
ago when a fisherman who has long 
searched, found it in 78 ft. of water. He 
marked the place with a buoy and received 
the reward of $500. The dredge is 2y 2 miles 
from shore and will be raised at once, when 
it is hoped to determine the mysterious 
cause of its going down. 




Heaviest Engine of Its Type Ever Built 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



229 



ELECTRIC HOUSE CHIMES 



Silver toned bells sounding sweet chimes 
throughout the house is one of the luxuries 
which is now obtainable at a price within 



By touching an electric button the chimes 
may be made to play whenever wanted, as 
for instance while guests are being seated 
in the dining room and at such other times 
as may be appropriate. 




Silver Toned Bells 



the reach of the many, where formerly the 
cost of a single chime frequently amounted 
to hundreds of dollars. The chimes may be 
placed in any part of the house, or con- 
cealed in out-of-the-way places, and the 
several sets operated electrically from one 
master clock. 

The chimes can be set to sound the quar- 
ter, or half hours, or only the hours, or by 
turning a switch, cut out of action entirely 
when not wanted. 

Small bells with exquisitely sweet tones 
are supplied for residences, and larger ones 
with farther reaching sound, for clubs, 
schools', or stores. By running wires to each 
room in a house a secondary dial will give 
the exact time in each room without any 
attention whatever. An occasional winding 
of the master clock does for all. 



FILLING FOR CRACKS IN FLOORS 



For filling cracks in floors boil paper pulp 
and fine sawdust together for several hours 
and mix with glue dissolved in linseed oil. 
Put on the filling and leave till partly dry, 
then cover with paraffin and smooth with a 
hot iron. 



HAULING LOGS IN COLORADO 



Hauling heavy loads with traction engines 
is far more common in the far West than 
elsewhere in this country. The illustra- 
tion shows a wagon train loaded with 70 
tons of logs, drawn by a steam traction 
motor. 




;, ,*/*w*»^-_ >v 






Wagon Train Loaded with 70 Tons of Logs 



230 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



MODEL RAILWAY ON BANQUET 
TABLE 



At the close, of a banquet given by the 
Maharajah of Gwalior to the Prince of 
Wales, who is now touring India, a center- 
piece in the form of a temple and decorated 
with electric lamps and flowers was hoisted 




Locomotive and Train 8 Ft. Long 

to the ceiling by pulleys and revealed a per- 
fect model railway on the table underneath. 
The locomotive and train were 8 ft. long 
and the cars carried decanters, cigars, cig- 
arettes and matches. 

The train was started by closing a circuit, 
one point of which was a flat spring. As 
long as this was held down by weight the 
train moved, but the lifting of a decanter 
or box of cigars resting on the spring al- 
lowed the spring to act, thus breaking the 
circuit and stopping the train. 
*-*-¥ 

ELEVATED CAR ATTRACTS COM= 
PASS NEEDLE 



A short time ago while passing along 
Third avenue, New York, I peeped into a 
show window that contained a mariners' 
compass and observed the magnetic 
needle in an oscillating movement, which, 
to my astonishment, proved to be caused 
by the passing elevated trains. These 
trains' usually consist of six cars each, 
every other car being without a motor. 

As soon as a train approached the needle 
would be attracted toward the first car, 
then as it passed, toward the next car with 
a motor, and so on until the last car had 
passed, when it would remain pointed 
toward the train until it was a hundred 
yards off. Then as the magnetizing forces 



from the train diminished the needle 
would gradually return toward the north 
pole. 

The train on this occasion, was going due 
south. No movement of the needle was no- 
ticeable when trains from the south were 
passing, as the thoroughfare at this point is 
very wide.— Contributed by Charles Wes- 
low, Harrison, N. J. 

♦ » » 

STEEL TELEPHONE TOWERS AT 
KANSAS CITY 



Steel towers 80 ft. high, are used at Kan- 
sas City, Mo., for suspending the long dis- 
tance telephone wires over the Missouri 




Courtesy W. 0. Pennell , Enp. 

Steel Telephone Tower 

river. The span is 1335 ft. and fifty 
No. 8 steel wires are used; they are the di- 
rect wires from Kansas City to Omaha and 
Chicago of the Missouri & Kansas Telephone 
Co. The wires "dead end" on a steel terminal 
about 700 feet beyond the towers, and are 
at a sufficient elevation over the river to 
clear the smoke stacks of river steamers. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



231 



STEAM 



AUTO AMBULANCES 
THE ARMY 



FOR 



DRY DOCK SAILING SAFELY 



The first important change since the Civil 
War in facilities for removing dead and 
wounded men from the battlefield has been 
made by the United States War Department 
in the adoption of a new steam automobile 
army ambulance. One of the machines has 
been under test for the past few weeks at 
Fort Myer, Va. It is an 18-hp. car, with the 
regulation touring-car chassis, upon which is 
mounted a body in the form of a miniature 
hospital. 

From the high top fall heavy curtains 
bearing the emblem of the red cross. With- 
in are two long seats, which are folded up 



The great floating dry-dock, the Dewey, de- 
scribed recently in this magazine, and which 
is making the longest trip ever attempted by 
such a craft, is proceeding safely and sat- 
isfactorily on its way to Manila. The Suez 
canal has already been widened to permit of 
its passage. The canal will be closed to all 
other vessels while the Dewey is going 
through. 

Daily reports by wireless telegraph keep 
the Navy Department advised of the progress 
made. 

In connection with this remarkable trip, 
it is more interesting than satisfactory to 
learn that the three vessels towing the dock 




Placing the Wounded on Stretchers in a U. S. Army Auto Ambulance 



against the wall when wounded soldiers are 
to be carried. Then heavy oak poles, or 
standards, are unhooked from the ceiling 
and set in place in the. middle of the car, 
dividing it into two compartments. Two 
stretchers can be placed on the floor of the 
car and two above, like the upper berths in 
a sleeping car. These upper stretchers are 
supported on one side by hooks in the poles 
and on the wall side by leather straps. 
There is a step at the rear of the car for the 
ambulance surgeon and room on the driver's 
seat for. two medical attendants. 

Steam was chosen for power for several 
important reasons: Steam autos are good 
hill-climbers, they are dependable in any 
weather and very free from vibration, an 
important consideration in moving wounded 
men. In tests the machine traveled over 
plowed ground at the rate of six miles an 
hour, and behaved splendidly under several 
high-speed trials. 



are all British built, and that the great 
steel hawsers used were also made in Eng- 
land. The firm which imported the towing 
lines paid freight, duty and insurance and 
then furnished them for $1,000 less than 
American manufacturers bid. Of the tow- 
ing vessels the Washington Post says: 
"Here is a magnificent American production, 
planned by American brains and built of 
American materials with American hands, 
and conveyed to an American possession by 
British vessels! Here is a theme for the 
champion of American ships. It is not a 
condition to be proud of." 



The British postal department will not 
transmit mail (postcards, etc.) enclosed in 
transparent envelopes with the address writ- 
ten on the contents. Such mail is too diffi- 
cult to sort. The practice has been greatly 
in vogue in Canada, but will probably be 
prohibited in the domestic mails there, also. 



232 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



PAPER MAKING A GREAT INDUSTRY 




The Digesters 



Requiring Much Skill, Ability and Capital 

To compare a paper mill completed in 
1906 with the small establishments called 
by that name fifty years ago is like compar- 
ing the Sunday editions of a great metropol- 
itan daily with a backwoods country week- 
ly. Paper as made to-day requires large 
capital, a single mill often costing as high 
as $1,000,000, and built to make only one 
class of paper at that. Machinery of great 
size and weight, but built with the nicety of 
a -watch is required, and in the operation of 
the plant, expert paper men and chemists 
whose experience has cost years of study 
and thousands of dollars. 

The art of paper making is not found in 
books, nor taught in any other school but 
in the mill itself. Like the making of steel, 
success depends very largely upon the judg- 
ment of the workmen, for the very condi- 
tion of the atmosphere enters largely into 
the quality of the product. As a matter of 
fact, with the exception of the most ex- 
pensive papers, the same men, using the 
same materials, and the same machine rare- 
ly are able to make next week exactly the 
same sheet they turned out a week ago. 
The layman can detect no difference, even 
the expert may find it difficult to distinguish 
between the two, but nevertheless there is a 
difference. 

When the manufacture of the vari- 
ous kinds of paper was in its infancy 
in the United States, some mills turned 
out but 200 lbs. in an en- 
tire day. A mill seldom 
employed over a dozen 
men and paper makers 




Paper Coming Out of Machine 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



233 



"were a transient class who lacked steady 
employment. Eags were so scarce that 
they sold as high as 10 or 15 cents a 
pound, and other materials from -which 
paper could be made were then practically 
unknown. Three things have been respon- 
sible for the change which marks the enor- 
mous present-day production — a production 
which in value amounts to $127,000,000 an- 
nually. In the first place there has been a 
generous increase in the supply of rags. 
Second, the introduction of wood pulp to 
take the place of rags; and, third, the in- 
troduction of machinery which will turn out 
webs of paper at the rate of 300 to 500 ft. 
per minute. 

Even after the introduction of pulp for 
the making of newspaper, rags were for a 
long time used altogether in the manufac- 
ture of book and writing papers, 
"but to-day wood pulp has entered 
this department also, with excel- 
lent results, and is growing in 
favor. The method of obtaining 
rags is well known to all. Collect- 
ing, sorting, baling and shipping is 
the story in a nut shell. A queer 
fact about these rags, too : Several 
tons of the same kind of rags are 
Avorth more per pound than a few 
hundred pounds. 

The raw material for the wood 
pulp mills is chiefly spruce and pop- 
lar. On arriving at the pulp mills 
from the forests, the spruce logs 
are cut into short lengths and 
the bark removed. Next they are 
cut into chips aDd the chips 
go to digester tanks in which they 
are cooked with sulphuric acid. In one di- 
gester 10 to 12 tons of pulp are produced in 
a day. The pulp is next bleached and 
washed in tubs, after which it goes into 
Seating machines, where it is thoroughly cut 
Tip and mixed by means of mechanical 
knives, and where both the coloring and 
sizing are added. A soda fibre is produced 
from softer woods, such as poplar, by the 
use of a solution of caustic soda in the di- 
gesters instead of sulphuric acid. These two 
fibres represent the chemical methods of 
producing pulp. A mechanical pulp is also 
made by holding the logs of wood against 
a grindstone. 

Pulp mills may be operated entirely sep- 
arate from a paper mill, and, in fact, there 
are nearly a hundred of them in the United 
States which manufacture pulp for sale, 
while, of course, in other cases it is made 
t>y the same mill that makes the finished 



paper. By pressing some of the moisture 
from the pulp, when so desired, it can be 
made into sheets until such time as it is to 
be used in the paper machines. Where made 
at the paper mill it goes from the beaters 
into what are known as "stuff chests" and 
is kept agitated until it comes time to 
pump it onto the paper machines. 

The pulp goes onto the great modern paper 
machines spread upon a moving endless 
wire cioth. This is supported by a series 
of metal rollers which are so set as to main- 
tain a perfectly even surface. Simultaneous- 
ly with the moving of the pulp upon the 
endless wire cloth, the fibres are made to 
interlace by means of a lateral motion of 
the rolls, and the water which carries the 
pulp in suspension gradually passes through 
the meshes of the cloth. At a certain point 




Machines that Cut the Paper Into Sheets 

in the machine, the web of pulp leaves the 
wire cloth for metal rolls covered with 
woolen felt. After being carried between 
the rolls of several presses it comes in 
contact with heated cylinders which are for 
drying. 

The paper is now ready for its glazed sur- 
face, which is obtained with the calenders- 
machines with metal rolls arranged in sev- 
eral tiers. Between the rolls the paper 
passes under pressure. The widest paper 
machines of the present day produce webs 
of paper 165 inches wide, and at the rate 
of 40 tons every twenty-four hours. Widths 
of this kind can, of course, be slit into nar- 
rower ones and rewound— another mechan- 
ical operation. 

That which is to be fine writing and book 
papers requires a higher gloss than is given 
it by the calenders and this is obtained by 
supercalenders where the rolls are alternate- 
ly of compressed paper and iron. From the 



234 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



supercalenders the paper which is to be 
ruled or which is to be packed and shipped 
in sheets, is taken to a cutting machine. 
From the rolls it is fed into this machine 
and an arrangement of continuous tapes de- 
livers it to a table in the sized sheets de- 
sired. Here each sheet is inspected with 




Putting On the Finish 

great rapidity and each soiled or defective 
one thrown out. 

Perhaps the most interesting mechanical 
device in connection with the entire process 
of the making of writing paper is the auto- 
matic ruling machine. Piles of paper in large 
sheets are placed at one end of this machine. 
The ink receptacles are filled with the color 
of ink desired and the machine is put in 
motion. Mechanical fingers carefully and 
rapidly lift each sheet from the pile to be 
ruled separately and feed it onto tapes which 
carry it between tiny wheels, the edges of 
which act as pens. The upper series of 
wheels through which it passes rule one 
side of the paper while the lower series sim- 
ultaneously rule the other, and the ruled 
paper is promptly delivered at the opposite 
end of the machine without the touch of a 



human hand. When desired another ma- 
chine makes the necessary folds and creases 
for the small double sheets of letter paper. 

The amount of capital represented in the 
paper industry of this country to-day is. 
close to $200,000,000. Some 50,000 people de- 
pend upon it for a livelihood and the num- 
ber of establishments engaged in either the 
pulp or paper industry, or both, is about 775. 
The per capita consumption of paper is 56 
lbs., according to the last census report. Our 
annual exports of paper exceed $6,000,000 in 
value and our imports are close to $4,000,- 
000. 

America is a land of paper. 



TELEGRAPH LINE 6,600 MILES 
LONG 



An unusual feat in telegraphing was ac- 
complished recently in -Australia. This con- 
sisted in transmitting messages over a dis- 
tance of 6,600 miles. Broome, on the ex- 
treme west coast of Australia was con- 
nected to Cape York, on the extreme north- 
east over the line shown in the illustration. 
"Communication was maintained for 15. 




■\l&rliboce 



Map Showing Route 

minutes at a key speed of 20 words per 
minute, without any indication of lag in the 
signals," states the Electrical Magazine, Lon- 
don. 



BALLOON CAUSES SHORT CIRCUIT 



One of the strangest of causes of a short 
circuit, is reported from Vienna. A balloon 
descended in a neighboring village, and let 
down its anchor rope in order to give some 
mail to be posted. This done, the rope was 
released, and in rising caught upon some 
electrical conductors carrying current at 
15,000 volts. The result was a remarkable- 
display of fireworks and the disabling of 
the electric system for several hours. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



235 



PAY ADMITTANCE FARE ON MON- 
TREAL STREET CARS 



In Montreal, Canada, passengers now pay 
their fare before they enter the car. This 

gives the 
conduc tor 
no occasion 
to enter the 
car and 
leaves him 
always o n 
the rear 
platform. 
There is no 
front e n- 
trance, hence all the passengers must enter 
and leave the car by the rear door. In fact 
there are two rear doors, one through which 
the passenger enters, and the other used 
exclusively for exit. As a part of this sys- 
tem the rear platform is unusually large and 
provided with guide rails which separate 
the getters-on from the getters-off. This 
not only prevents confusion, but saves much 
time. 




The manner of collecting the fare is de- 
cidedly unique. Under no circumstances can 
the conductor touch the fare, which must 
be deposited by the passenger in a fare box, 
which is presented as the passenger enters 
the door of the car. The conductor will 
make change, or sell tickets but the passen- 
ger deposits the fare, whichever it may be, 
in the box. The coin or ticket does not fall 
until the conductor presses a button; this 
gives opportunity to see if the amount is 
correct and the coin genuine. When once 
the coin drops it cannot be removed ex- 
cept at the company's office. After the 
cashiers count the day's receipts the count 
is checked by weighing the different coins 
and also the tickets. The public good-na- 
turedly refer to the fare box as the "tea- 
pot." 

♦♦•• 

The total coal production of the world is 
now about 790 million tons per year. Of 
this England and possessions produce rather 
less than a third and the United States 
something more than a third. 



& 



SCHOOL FOR MARINE STOKERS 




English Training School for Stokers 



A school for training stokers has been es- 
tablished at Portsmouth, England. The 
steamship "Nelson" has been fitted up to 



serve as the school and has just gone into 
commission. The illustration shows the re- 
cruits marching on board. 



^t: ■■■■:„ J -^ 



236 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



HOW TO MAKE A HOTBED 



Either a temporary or a permanent hot- 
bed is quite simple to make and will hasten 
the blooming season of garden annuals a 
number of weeks. For the temporary hot- 
bed place fermenting stable manure with a 
small amount of straw or litter in it in a 
broad flat heap and compact it by tramping. 
The heap should be 9 ft. wide and any mul- 
tiple of 3 ft. in length and for the latitude 



rr-J 




Fig. 1 -"Temporary Hotbed 

of New York City, 14 or 16 in. deep. Both 
the depth and breadth of the heap should in- 
crease farther north. 

Make a frame 8 in. high at the front, and 
12 in. high at the back with tapered boards 
at the ends, and place it upon the manure 
heap. Over the - area enclosed by the frame 
scatter evenly 3 in. of good garden loam. 
Then place the sash upon the frame. If the 
weather is apt to be severe while the hotbed 
is in use, bank the frame with manure. Let 
the hotbed heat up and give it about three 
days for the temperature to subside before 
planting any seeds. A safe temperature is 
between 85 and 90 degrees. 

For heating a permanent hotbed either 
fermenting manure or radiating pipes from 
the dwelling or greenhouse heating plant 
may be used. Where manure is to supply 
the heat, provide a pit 2 to 2% ft. deep and 
support the sides and ends by a lining of 
plank supported by posts 4 ft. apart. A 
brick wall 9 in. thick (Fig. 3) would be 
better still. Have the lining come flush with 
the surface of the soil. The pit should be lo- 
cated on naturally well-drained ground and 




Fig. 2—End View, Temporary Bed 

furnished with a tile drain from the bottom 
of the excavation, to prevent water accum- 
ulating. As standard hotbed sash are 3 ft. 
by 6 ft. in size, the pit should be some mul- 
tiple of 3 ft. in length and as wide as the 
length of the sash, or 6 ft. The plank oi- 
brick lining may extend above the ground 



to allow for placing the sash. The pit shouid 
then be filled to ground level with manure 
and a layer of soil, as shown in Fig. 3. 

To make your own hotbed sash, use white 
pine or cypress. Make the two ends of the 
sash of sound timber, 3 in. wide at the top 
end and 4 in. wide at the bottom end, 
mortised to receive the ends of the sash 
bars, and with a tenon at the ends to pass 
through the side pieces which should be 2 x fa 
in. wide. The sash bars should run length- 
wise of the sash, only, but may be braced 
through the middle by a transverse bar 
placed through the long bars below the plane 
occupied by the glass. To place the glass 
in the sash fill the rabbet in the sash bar 
with soft putty, then press the glass, crown- 
ing side up, firmly into the bed of putty 
and fasten securely with shoe nails, or wire 
brads. Place the pane nearest to the front, 
or lowest side of the hotbed when the sash 
is in place, first. Bed the next light in the 




Fig. 3-=Permanent Hotbed 

same manner and place it so as to lap about 
3-16 in. over the top edge of the one first 
placed, like shingles on a roof. Drive brads 
below the lower corners of the second pane 
to prevent it slipping down under the un- 
der one. Continue in this way until the 
frame is filled. A three-course frame is pref- 
erable to a two-course frame, breakage 
being less with small glass. 

During cold nights a protection of burlap, 
board shutters or straw mats will be neces- 
sary and on bright days the sash must be 
lifted a little at the high side of the frame 
to permit the hot air to escape. Hotbeds 
should be watered in the mornings of bright 
days only. 



White pine is the best material for pat- 
tern work in general. This wood is easily 
worked, does not injure the tools, takes glue 
and varnish nicely and is sufficiently dur- 
able. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 237 

TREATMENT FOR THOSE SHOCKED BY ELECTRICITY 



[Through the courtesy of the United Gas Improvement Co. of Philadelphia, we are enahled to reproduce the 
text and illustrations from their unique pamphlet on the treatment of persons injured by electric shock; which 
they have issued for the benefit of the many systems in which the company is interested.— Editor.] 

Copyrighted. 



To give proper assistance to persons 
shocked by electricity, it is necessary to 
have on hand, the following materials, con- 
tained in the company's emergency kit for 
electric shock cases, as shown 1 in Fig. 1: 

(a) A bottle of aromatic spirits of am- 

monia; 

(b) A bottle of ordinary ammonia, with 

sponge attachment; 

(c) A package of bi-carbonate of soda 

(ordinary baking soda); 

(d) A tin cup; 

(e) A pair of tongue pliers; 

(f) A towel; 

(g) A package of antiseptic cotton; 
(h) A roll of antiseptic bandaging; 
(i) A roll of adhesive tape. 

In case of electric shock instantaneous 
death or only temporary unconsciousness 
may result. The treatment in both cases 
is as follows, and it should be carried out 
in every instance,' even though the person 
is apparently dead, for he might be only 
temporarily unconscious: 

Treatment: — Send for a doctor at once, in 
the meantime acting as follows: Carry the 
patient immediately into fresh air. Place 
him on his back on a flat surface, with a 
coat rolled (not folded) under the shoulders 
and neck, in such a way as to allow the 
head to fall backward enough to straighten 
the wind-pipe, as shown in Fig. 2; at the 
same time open the shirt wide at neck and 
loosen the trousers and drawers at waist, 
and have an assistant rub his legs hard. 

The sleeves and trouser-legs should be 
rolled up as far as possible, so that the rub- 
bing may be done on the bare skin, and the 
shirt and undershirt should be torn down 
the front so that they may be thrown back, 



leaving the chest and stomach bare, as 
shown in Fig. 10. 

Open his mouth, forcing the jaw, if neces- 
sary. 

If the jaw is rigid it can be forced open 




Fig. 1 ^Emergency Kit 

by placing the forefinger back of the bend 
of the lower jaw-bone, and the thumbs of 
both hands on the chin, pulling forward 
with fingers and pressing jaw open with 
thumbs, as shown in Fig. 3. 

Place something (piece of wood shown in 
Fig. 1) between the teeth to keep the jaws 
open and to prevent the patient 'biting his 
tongue, using something large enough to 
prevent any danger of his swallowing it ac- 
cidentally; grasp the tongue with the tongue- 
pliers, as shown in Fig. 4, having an assist- 
ant hold it out while you are helping the 
patient to breathe, as described below. 

In the absence of tongue-pliers, the tongue 
may be grasped between the index and sec- 
ond fingers, after they have been covered 
with a handkerchief. 

Clear froth from the mouth by putting in 




Fig. 2-=First Position of Person Under Treatment 



238 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Fig. 3"Method of Opening Jaw When Rigid 

your forefinger as far as possible and bring- 
ing up the froth with a scooping motion. 
Have the assistant who is holding the tongue 
slowly pass the bottle of ammonia, with 
sponge attachment, under the patient's nose 
about once a minute when the patient is 
breathing in, and when his arms are being 
extended above his head, as shown in Fig. 10. 

While you are preparing the patient as 
just described, an assistant should force the 
air out of the lungs by pressing the base of 
the ribs together about once every four sec- 
onds, as shown in Fig. 5. Do not press 
vertically, but press on the patient's side 
(palms of hands over lower ribs) in such 
a manner as to force as much air out of the. 
lungs as possible. 

After the clothing has been loosened, the 
jaw forced open, as shown in Fig. 4, the 
froth cleared from the mouth and the tongue 



grasped, begin artificial breathing at once 
as follows: 

ARTIFICIAL BREATHING. 
Kneel far enough behind the head of the 
patient to prevent interference with the man 
holding the tongue. Bend the patient's arms 
so that the hands meet on the chest; grasp 
the patient's forearms firmly, as close as 
possible to the bent elbows. 

1. Firmly press the patient's elbows 
against the sides of his body so as to drive 
the air out of the lungs, as shown in Fig. 
6; then 

2. Raise the arms slowly with a sweeping 
motion until the patient's hands meet above 




Fig. 4==Method of Inserting .Block in Mouth 

(or behind) the patient's head, as shown 
in Fig. 7; then 




Fig. 5==Forcing Air Out of Lungs 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



239 




Fig. 6==First Movement in Artificial Respiration 



3. While you have the patient's arms 
stretched out in line with his body, give 
them a slow, strong pull, until you have 
expanded or raised his chest as high as it 
will go, as shown in Fig. 8; then 

4. Bring the arms, with bent' elbows, 
-down against the sides, and press them 
firmly as before, as shown in Fig. 6. 

This action should be continued about fif- 
teen times a minute until the patient be- 
gins to breathe. You must guard against 
a tendency to make these motions too fast; 
they must be done slowly. A good plan is 
to count four slowly — "one," as the pressure 
is given on the sides, as shown in Fig. 6; 
■"two," as the arms are being extended above 
the head, as shown in Fig. 7; "three," as the 



strong pull is given, as shown in Fig. 8;, and 
"four," when the arms are again being bent 
and returned to the sides, as shown in Fig. 9. 

Do not let your hands on the forearms 
slip away from the elbows; the best result 
comes from grasping close to the elbows, 
as shown in Fig. 9. 

The operator must appreciate the fact that 
this manipulation must be executed with 
methodical deliberation, just as described, 
and never hurriedly, or half-heartedly. To 
grasp the arms and move them rapidly up and 
down like a pump-handle is both absurd and 
absolutely useless. 

Each time the arms are pulled above the 
head and the chest expanded, the assistant 
who is holding the tongue should pull the 




Fig. 7-Second Movement in Artificial Respiration 



240 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 







Fig. 8«Third Movement 

tongue out and downward, and another as- 
sistant should, from time to time, slap the 
chest with a towel or cloth wet with cold 
water, as shown in Fig. 10. 

When the patient is breathing by himself, 
the process of artificial breathing can be 
stopped, but the process of pressing the 
sides every other time he breathes out, should 
be started as follows: 

Do not press vertically, but press on the 
patient's side (palms of hands over lower 
ribs) in such a manner as to force as 



in Artificial Respiration 

much air out of the lungs as possible, Fig. 5. 
You can carry out this pressing action most 
successfully, if, on beginning, you move your 
hands in and out with every breath, press- 
ing very lightly, until you have established 
a rhythmical motion of your hands in unison 
with the patient's breathing; then you caji 
begin to press hard at every other out-go- 
ing breath. 

The object of doing this is to strengthen 
his breathing. By making the pressure 
every other time he breathes out, you give 




Fig. 9-=Fourth Movement in Artificial Respiration 




ENCYCLOPEDIA 



241 




r 












L 






: y|lJ^ 


J.J 






jHt^^V ' ^r ^^^ft 




rfjyp^- ' 




</;X JbB^SI 




&<• 9^2 


*-^H . ' 


Tv^s^ 


^fKir 


9k 







Fig. 10 Positions of Assistants 

him an opportunity to take a breath him- 
self, and this natural effort to breathe is in 
itself strengthening to the action of the 
lungs. 

Continue this pressing action until the 
man is conscious and breathing well by him- 
self. 

The rubbing of the legs and arms should 
continue as long as the artificial breathing, 
or pressing action, is necessary, and the 
holding of the tongue, and the passing of 
the bottle of ammonia with sponge attach- 



ment under the, nose, as long as he is un- 
conscious, as shown in Fig. 5. 

After he becomes conscious, give him a 
half-teaspoonful of aromatic spirits of am- 
monia in a third of a glass of water. After 
you have brought him around, surround him 
with bottles of hot water. 

Beer bottles are easily obtained, and 
should be filled with hot water and covered 
with a paper or cloth to prevent burning the 
flesh. Hot bricks, also covered, or gas bags 
Ailed with hot water will answer as well. 

Then cover him with a coat and 
watch bim. See Fig. 11. 

In performing artificial breathing, if 
the patient does not show any signs 
of coming to life promptly, you should 
.not be discouraged, but, should con- 
tinue the motions regularly for at 
least one hour, summoning such as- 
sistance as you may need. Cases are 
known where patients showing no 
signs of life after an hour's work have 
still recovered, and their recovery was 
due entirely to the faithful persistence 
of the person in charge. 

Persons shocked by electricity need 
fresh air; therefore, bystanders should 
not be . permitted to crowd around a 




Fig- 11 •"•Treatment After Patient Becomes Conscious 



242 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



patient, and no one should be allowed to 
approach him except those carrying out 
these instructions. 

The recovery of a person unconscious 
from electric shock may be hastened by the 
use of oxygen, which should be adminis- 
tered at the discretion of the doctor. 

BURNS CAUSED BY ELECTRICITY. 

Electric shocks are often accompanied by 
various types of burns, which should be 
treated as follows: 

Have the injured attended by a doctor as 
soon as possible. In the meantime cover the 
burned surface with cotton, saturated in a 
strong solution of bi-carbonate of soda and 
water (as much soda as the water will ab- 
sorb), and then wrap with light bandaging. 
In the absence of soda, carron oil may be 
used in the same manner. 

Even apparently slight burns should be 
treated by a doctor, as the injuries are likely 
to prove more serious than those resulting 
from ordinary burns. 

Should the articles contained in the com- 
pany's emergency kit for electric shock cases 
not be on hand when needed, after sending 
for a doctor, every effort should be made 
to revive the patient, by following the course 
of movements described until the doctor ar- 
rives and the necessary articles are secured. 



HOME=MADE MOTOR WAGON 



HEAVIEST RAILROAD RAILS 



What are believed to be the heaviest rails 
in use on any steam railroad in the world 
are on the belt line around Philadelphia. 
They weigh 142 lbs. to the yard. Concrete 
with 9-in. girders are used with heavy bal- 
last to make a firm roadbed. One railroad 
official states this section of roadbed will 
last for 25 years without reDairs. This 
would mean a material reduction in mainte- 
nance expense to the road using these rails. 



Made in California 



A California rancher, Arthur Mills, wanted 
a motor wagon and decided to build one 
himself. The machine has been in opera- 
tion some two months with excellent satis- 
faction, during which time it has traveled 
more than 200 miles over rough mountain 
roads. 

The driving and steering gear can be 
placed on any ordinary city truck with 
slight alterations to the truck. In the motor 




Arrangement of Gears 

shown the power is two-cylinder marine 
type, water-cooled gasoline engine, coupled 
to the rear wheels as drivers. -There are 
three forward speeds and one reverse. The 
drive is from a countershaft with a radial 
play when wagon turns that takes the 
place of a differential gear. The steering 
gear works on a knuckle and swivel from 
center of axle. The wagon is 20 ft. long; 
-the front wheels 4 ft. 10 in. diameter; rear 
wheels spiked to secure a better hold. 

With a trailer attached an average load of 
5,500 lbs. has been hauled. 




Showing the Motor Wagon in Service 




ENCYCLOPEDIA 



243 



TKriVELINQ HOTEL AND STORE 



'Electric Lights, Cold Storage and Complete Force 

of Hotel Servants Change Hardships of 

Frontier Life Into Comfort 



A hotel and restaurant with a well 
equipped store containing a full line of 




The Portable Cold Storage 

goods from a needle to a suit of clothes, and 
all on wheels for transportation from place 
to place is the' latest attempt to supply the 
wants of a construction camp. The rail- 
roads have for some years fitted up old 
box cars with some rude bunks and a stove 
for shelter at night, and in other old cars 
installed a cook stove at one end and a pine 
board table with long board seats running 
lengthwise, for a boarding car. This ancient 
equipment is taken to the place where con- 
struction work is to last some time, a side 
track built and the boarding cars set out. 
The accommodations are a great improve- 
ment on tenting, especially in wet or cold 
weather, but naturally fall short of provid- 
ing all the comforts of home. 

A company has been formed and has con- 
structed cars especially to serve as boarding 
houses and restaurant. The operators will 
contract to board 100 or 1,000 men for any 
length of time, at any place reached by a 
railroad track. A trained force attends to 
all the usual work of hotel servants, sweep- 
ing, making beds, laundry, cooking, waiting 
on table, etc. Hot and cold water for the 
toilet and bath are piped into each car and 
the workmen not only live well, sleep com- 
fortably, but rest in easy chairs when the 
day's work is done. The plan is intended 
for use not only for railroad construction 
work, but for the accommodation of any 
considerable number of men for any work. 

Another new feature is the cold storage 
car where meats, fruits and other perish- 
ables can be kept until used. A zero tem- 
perature can be maintained in this car if 
necessary. 

This means the constructing force, per- 
haps a hundred miles from the nearest base 
of supplies, can have the same healthful, 



varied diet they would in any large city. An 
electric light plant is also part of the outfit, 
lighting all the cars at night. 

One car is fitted up as a traveling store. 
It carries a full line of all those things men 
wear. Extra heavy boots and gloves, over- 
alls, jackets, shirts, tobacco, knives and an 
assortment found in a small general store. 
All these conveniences go to make possible 
the securing of a much better class of men 
for work in places which otherwise would 
involve many hardships. 



NOVEL FIRE ENGINES IN NOME 



Nome, Alaska, had a narrow escape from 
destruction by fire last fall. The fire started 
at three o'clock in the morning and burned 
several hours. It was finally subdued when 
a machinery firm hauled two portable up- 
right boilers to the water's edge, set them 
up and made steam connections to a hori- 
zontal pump. The connections were com- 




Courtesj Valve World. 

This Outfit Saved Nome 



pleted and two good sized streams turned 
on the fire in 45 minutes. The figure of the 
engineer of the boiler at the left is partly 
hidden by smoke from the conflagration. 



In Denmark milk is transported in huge 
wooden casks of 210 cu. ft. capacity, fast- 
ened to the floors of covered freight cars: 
two to a car. Milk is shipped to Berlin in 
this way. 



244 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



TROLLEY ELECTRIC VEHICLE 



A trolley electric vehicle is being tried in 
Philadelphia. It is similar in principle to 
the trackless trolley cars in use in Europe, 
which have been described fully in this 
magazine. There is this difference: the 




Trolley and Storage Battery Express 



European cars are operated on public high- 
ways by means of an overhead trolley wire, 
but require no tracks. The Philadelphia 
plan contemplates use of the vehicles both 
over the tracks of the street railway com- 
pany, and as feeders to and from points at 
present beyond the end of the tracks. For 
the extension work the electric motor of the 
vehicle receives its current from storage 
batteries carried • under the body of the 
wagon. By using the trolley for the greater 
part of the trip storage batteries of much 
smaller capacity are possible than would 
otherwise be necessary. 

It is suggested the plan will prove the 
solution of package delivery in cities, as 
heretofore where the street railways have 
undertaken the city express business, it has 
been necessary to establish depots at fre- 
quent intervals, and transfer the packages 
for the district from the car into light horse 
delivery wagons. This has been done at a 
considerable loss of time and extra expense. 

Under the new arrangement, the electric 
express wagon can run with its own storage 
power and make all the collections from 
stores whether on a street car line or not, 
and when the load is secured, take the car 
track and use the trolley power out to the 
district to be served, and then follow resi 
dence streets at win. Tbe system is to be 



worked only in conjunction with and ir. c~ 
operation with the street rar.ways. The 
capacity of the storage batteries and power 
of the electric motor vary according to t;he 
size of the vehicle, load to be carried, and 
distance to be run beyond the car tracks. 
The batteries can be recharged while the 
vehicle is running on the 
car lines with trolley 
current. 

The system is recom- 
mended for ambulance, 
police and fire depart- 
ment service; and for 
heavy teaming such as 
coal, for which 12-ton 
wagons are already to 
be had. 

■» » » 

MOTOR COTTON 
PICKER 



A machine operated by 
a 5-hp. gasoline engine 
has been built for pick- 
ing cotton. It is self pro- 
pelling and requires one 
driver and four assistants 
who guide the "gath- 
These pickers consist of rapidly 



erers. 

moving teeth which pull the cotton from the 
boll after which it is drawn through tubes 
and deposited in large sacks, by means of a 
current of- air. The sacks are emptied at 




Cotton Picking Machine 

the bottom as fast as filled, into bags and 
carted to the gin. 

The boys who guide the gatherers sit on 
a seat which is fastened to the iron frame 
of the machine, and take one gatherer in 
each hand. 



COMFORT ON THE SEA 



SELF=LEVELING STEAMER BERTH 
PREVENTS SEA=SICKNESS 



A new type of berth for ocean steamers 
is said by the Shipping World, London, to 
have successfully demonstrated its claim to 
save the occupant from sea-sickness. It is 
constructed on the self-leveling principle. 
Of a recent test the report states: "During 
a northwest gale with a very heavy head 
sea, the bunk kept in a horizontal position, 
notwithstanding the ship oitched heavily 
as she passed over each sea. Although the 
berth was fixed in the fore cabin, a narrow 




Self=Leveling Berth 

space in the ship's bows, where every mo- 
tion would naturally be felt, the steward 
reported that to anyone occupying the bunk 
even the bumping was unnoticeable. On 
another occasion a lady and two children, 
who were very sick, occupied the bunk, and 
in a few minutes the sickness stopped, and 
neither of them suffered from it during the 
Temainder of the passage. 



FOLDING DECK SHELTER FOR 
OCEAN PASSENGERS 



Patents have been granted in Germany 
and England on a simple but extremely 




245 



Shelter in Position 

serviceable device for the comfort of ocean 
passengers. It is a wind-shelter consisting 
of a partition extending from one deck to 
the next, and extending out from the cabin 
for about 3 ft. It makes a sort of room 
open on the side next the sea. When not 
desired, the shelter, which is hinged at the 
top, is swung up out of the way. The 
North German Lloyd express steamers are 
being equipped. 

♦ « ♦ 

The only steam railway in operation in 
Alaska at the present time is a 55-mile road 
at White Pass. Others are under construc- 
tion, however, the most important to be 463 
miles long. 



246 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



WRECK OF THE DULUTH-SUPERIOR INTERSTATE BRIDGE 



Second Longest Draw in the WorId==Cost a Million DoIlars==How the Fixed Span Was. 

Moved to Clear the Channel 



The 5,000-ton steel package freighter 
"Troy," entering the upper harbor at Du- 
luth early on the morning of August 11, 
whistled for the Duluth-Superior bridge at 
the usual point, so states the captain, and 
kept calmly on its way at a speed of about 
four miles an hour. The bridge was always 
slow in opening and at first Captain Mur- 
ray thought little of it, but when his vessel 
was dangerously near and the bridge was 
not yet swinging, he blew alarm signals and 
backed at full speed. Just then the ponder- 
ous structure swung one-third open and the 
"Troy" strucfc it about 20 ft. from the center 
pier. Whether the bridge-tender was too 
slow, or whether the captain of the "Troy" 
was too fast is an unsettled question, but 
with a horrible grinding and crashing of 
buckling steel, the noble structure collapsed 
and sank into the channel waters. First the 
end of the span on the Superior side went 
down and a second later the end of the 
span on the Duluth side. The wrecked 
bridge completely blocked the channel and 
tied up 35 ships. 

The draw-span of the Duluth-Superior 
bridge was 500 ft. long — the second longest 
in the world — and the cost of the structure, 
which is the property of the Great 



Northern railroad, was $1,000,000. The dam- 
age is estimated at $100,000. Both ends of 
the bridge were completely submerged, and. 
the Superior end was badly broken. 

Naturally the first question was how to 
clear the channel of wreckage so ships 
could pass in and out of the upper harbor. 
It will be at least seven or eight • months, 
before the bridge will again be in working 
order and the only thing that could be done 
was to move the fixed span. This span 
weighs 800 tons and is 230 ft. long; in just 
89 hours it had been moved to a temporary 
pile support. 

Four large scows were taken under the 
fixed span and sunk; then a timber support 
was built up to the bridge stringers, the 
water was pumi jd out of the scows, and as. 
they rose they lifted the 800-ton, 230-ft. 
steel span from its stone piers. Two tugs 
towed the strange load to the support pre- 
pared for it. The scows, it is said, have a 
carrying capacity of four times the weight 
of the bridge. When the structure was at 
last out of the way, a channel of 170 ft. 
with 25 to 30 ft. of water and a 230-ft. 
channel with 19 ft. of water were clear for 
use. Under present conditions only one- 
boat can make the passage at a time. 



t3* fi^* ■ 9fi^ 



TEST AT NIAGARA FALLS CAUSES 
SCARE 



PAINTING STATUE OF LIBERTY 



About 1 o'clock in the morning recently, 
police headquarters received an excited tele- 
phone message that a pleasure launch burn- 
ing a red light was in the rapids above the 
falls and was being swept rapidly to de- 
struction. The relief crew with life-saving 
apparatus hurried to the scene in a patrol 
wagon, where a crowd had already gathered, 
but arrived just in time to see what ap- 
peared to be a good sized boat pass over 
the crest. Investigation revealed the fact 
that the power company, in order to secure 
data on the exact speed of the current at 
various points, had constructed the craft, 
put in a long-burning red light and towed 
it out into the river at a safe distance above 
the falls and then set it adrift. 



The Statue of Liberty on Bedloe's island: 
is being painted by the Government at an 
expense of $63,000. Eighteen years' ex- 
posure to salt air has seriously corroded the 
bronze. The electric lights in the torch will 
be enlarged and an electric elevator in- 
stalled. 

♦ « ♦ 

THROWING STREET CAR SWITCHES 



The general manager of the street rail- 
way at Clinton, la., has introduced a de- 
cided improvement on his cars. A small 
round hole is cut in the platform directly 
over the rail, through which the motorman 
puts the switch-iron with which he turns 
the point of the switch. This saves opening; 
the front window or leaving the car. 




I 



248 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



ORDERING MEALS BY TELAU= 
TOGRAPH 



HAS PEARY PERISHED IN POLAR 
QUEST? 



The telautograph, the electrical device for 
transmitting writing to a distance, has 
been installed in a Cincinnati hotel for the 
use of guests in ordering their meals. The 
guest writes his order and it is immediately 
transmitted from the dining room to the 
kitchen. Each order has a duplicate, and 
aside from the time and labor saved, all 
dispute as to mistaken orders is avoided, 
unless the guest' writes in hieroglyphics. 

♦ • ♦ 

TOBACCO WITHOUT NICOTINE 



A German cigar manufacturer has in- 
vented a process by which the tobacco is 
given a treatment which extracts a large 
part of the nicotine. The extraction is not 
entire, for about 1 per cent still remains. 
The flavor of the cigar is said to be unim- 
paired. The cigars are labeled "free of 
nicotine." 



Grave apprehensions are entertained by 
naval officers as to the safety of Captain 
Robert B. Peary, who sailed on the ship 
"Roosevelt" Juiy 16, 1905, for Arctic re- 
gions in another attempt to discover the 
pole. No tidings of the vessel have been 
received and as the storms of the far 
North have been unusually severe the past 
season and the ice heavy, it is feared it has 
been ground to pieces. 

Peary's plan was to go to the farthest 
point of land north of Cape Sabine pos- 
sible — within 500 miles of the pole — and 
during the summer of the present year 
make the final dash over the ice, relying on 
dogs and Esquimaux as his aids. The trip 
should have taken no more than six weeks. 
Peary began his Arctic explorations just 30 
years ago. Other trips were made in 1886, 
1891, 1893 and 1898, each being fraught with 
terrible hardships. 




"DREADNAUGHT" IS MONARCH.— Great Britain's powerful fighting-machine, which surpasses every 
other existing vessel, is now ready for her steam trials. The vessel's dimensions are as follows: Displace- 
ment, 18,000 tons; length, 520 ft.; beam, 82 ft.; draught (mean), 26J4 ft.; armor belt, II in.; speed, 21 knots. 
The armament comprises ten 12-in. guns and twenty-seven 12 pounders. Eight of the 12-in. guns can fire on 
the broadside, six ahead, and six astern. The vast beam of the warship was necessitated by her heavy arma- 
ment and with her great length gives her a peculiar appearance. The funnels areoval. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 249 

ENGLISH NAVY IN 1906 AND 1910 




: . ■ - * : 







.. " ; . . ■■■. . - • . ,■••• ■ -/ . ' . : ■ ■■ :•' :>■-*." .■ ;•• 

■ BKl-Ff5H" NS^AL POWER C-OMFAT'lEO WiTH ntAV.DF FRANCE GERMANY y. Rl^SSA I0!0 




■ ■ 




JP5L 






■x 

"¥'.■■■'.-.'.:■■.' ..■■/■ 'v. i>.w^,"" 



■•" — nwi ri>llWM«Wl««llW«aiWil|lliMMHliiB1 ili inn iwiiiWiilrta<[|-)i • ■■-' 










The great advantage in point of tonnage propriation has steadily increased each 

of the British navy over the two other year, rising from $52,650,000 in 1880, to 

largest powers is graphically set forth in $166,955,000 in 1906. The program includes 

the accompanying pictures. The naval ap- three battleships of the "Dreadnaught" type. 



250 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



TARRED MACADAM STREETS 







<^ 



fig- 5 




Fig. l==Sweeper Cleaning Street. Fig. 2==Putting 
With Brooms. Fig. 4.==Covering Tar With Finely 
Fig. 6= The Completed Roadway. 

Considerable attention is being directed 
by people interested in improved streets 
and highways to the system of treating 
macadam roads to a coating of tar. The 
system originated in France in 1896. En- 
gineers have pronounced it a success, and 
that repairs are reduced 25 per cent in one 
case, and the life of the paving probably 
extended from 6 to 12 years in another. 

The advantages are freedom from noise, 
mud, dust and the necessity of sprinkling. 
The process is simple and requires no spe- 
cial apparatus. The street — which must be 
macadam paved — is first swept clean of dust 



on the Tar With a Sprinkler. Fig. 3==Spreading Tar 
Crushed Stone. Fig. 5=-Finishing With Steam Roller. 

and enough hot tar poured on to fill all 
cracks and soak into the surface evenly. 
If a rain occurs during the work, operations 
cannot be resumed until the street is per- 
fectly dry again. A thin layer of fine, clean 
stone screening is next spread to absorb 
any surplus tar anc the road rolled with a 
steam roller. It is then ready for use. 
From % to % gal. tar per square yard is 
required, and the additional expense is 1 
cent per yard for screenings, and 3 to 4 
cents for all labor, including rolling. A 
16-ft. roadway can be treated for $400 per 
mile. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



251 



TEACHING NAVIGATION WITH 
WAGON WHEELS 



An open field would not suggest itself as 
a place to learn the movements of a fleet 
at sea. The illustration 
looks much more like 
some physical culture con- 
test. In order to make 
the sailors in the British 
navy familiar with fleet 
maneuvers the men are 
each given a small wagon 
wheel and designated as 
some vessel in a squadron. 
They then go through all 
the various evolutions of 
ships at steam tactics, 
pushing their wheel into 
the i osition which their 
"ship" has been ordered. 
The illustration shows the 
men executing the order 
"Single line ahead"; two divisions. 



care of the monster machines which keep 
coming out of the shops. 

This growth during the past 10 years 
was graphically set forth by President Ball 
at the Railway Master Mechanics' conven- 



&1 <;-'* <$8$k&. #^:-.~il> 




INCREASING POWER OF 
LOCOMOTIVES 



The American locomotive keeps on grow- 
ing. Each year the track superintendent 
says the limit has been reached, and they 
cannot stand anything bigger and heavier, 
and each year he has to get busier and take 




The "Fleet" Maneuvering 

tion. The average tractive power of freight 
locomotives in 1896 — 10 years ago — was 
13,900, while today it has increased to 
31,500. This condition means correspond- 
ingly increased train loads. 

The demands for air have increased to 
such an extent as to represent quite a large 
percentage of the boiler capacity for its 
production. It has been found that under 
normal working of a large freight locomo- 
tive, hauling a train of 65 cars, 50 of which 
were air-braked, at 20 miles per hour, the 
simple air pump requires approximately 6 
per cent of the steam generated. If a por- 
tion of this can be saved by compounding, 
such saving should not be overlooked. 
Tests which have been made show an 
economy for the compound pump of 60 




White 1880- Black 1906 

per cent over the single pump. Mr. Ball 
adds: 

"We shall be required to develop the me- 
chanical stoker, compounding and super- 
heating will be prosecuted with greater 
vigor than ever. The use of a feed-water 
heater may be resorted to, and among the 
smaller items, undoubtedly the compound 
air pump will be used, and perhaps the 
variable exhaust nozzle. We now have en- 
gines that will run successfully from 



252 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



terminal to terminal, and have reached a 
plane in the economical maintenance of our 
locomotives whereby the use of the foregoing 
fuel-saving devices will make more ap- 
parent than heretofore the economies re- 
sulting therefrom." For the intelligent in- 
ventor who will study the conditions and 
requirements, there is an attractive field 
for work. 

♦ « ♦ 

REFRIGERATION ON THE SEAS 



Distance no Longer Barrier to Markets * 



Refrigeration was first applied to steam- 
ers in 1880 and since that time its use 
has become so general as to be absolutely 
indispensable. To commerce it gave new 
impetus and made international trafficking 
in many food stuffs profit- 
able. 

New Zealand owes much 
to mechanical refrigeration. 
In 1882 she exported to 
England 8,839 carcases; in 
1884, 412,349 carcases; in 
1891, 1,906,002 carcases; and 
in 1900, 3,154,799 carcases, 
says the Illustrated London 
News. During 1900 Austra- 
lia exported to England 
943,688 sheep and lambs 
and 279,953 quarters and 
pieces of beef. 

There are 40 meat freez- 
ing works in New Zealand 
and Australia, and 140 re- 
frigerating ships plying be- 
tween Australia and Brit- 
ish ports. The average 
temperature of a steamer's hold or a cold 
storage is 16° to 20° Fahr. or 12° to 16° 



of frost. One of the largest London cold 
storages holds 200,000 sheep and the firm 
has delivered 40,000 carcases in one week. 
The refrigerating process, briefly, is as fol- 
lows: Ammonia gas is condensed by pow- 
erful machinery until it is liquefied. It is 
then driven along pipes until it reaches a 
point where it is suddenly made to expand 
by being forced through small apertures. 
At the moment the gas assumes its original 
bulk it absorbs a great amount of heat, 
and thus produces Intense cold in the sur- 
rounding atmosphere. The gas is con- 
densed once more, again made to expand, 
and so the process goes on in regular rota- 
tion. The same material may be used again 
and again for an almost indefinite period. 
The hoar frost on the outside of the expan- 
sion pipes arises from the freezing of the 





Cross Section of Cold Storage Cargo 

more or less moisture contained in the air. 
A monster cargo of New Zealand products 
was recently unloaded at one of the Lon- 
don docks. The cargo comprised 81,920 
frozen carcases of mutton and lamb, 220 
frozen quarters of beef, 777 cases of frozen 
kidneys, hearts, etc., 90 casks of casings, 
43,605 boxes of butter (56 pounds each), 
8,350 crates of cheese (56 pounds each), 
35 frozen carcases of pork, 1,000 cases of 
tinned meats, 11,550 bales of wool and 
skins, 200 sacks of grass seed, 1,100 casks 
of tallow and pelts, and 2,800 cases of fruit, 
all unloaded in just eight days. 



Perfectly Preserved 



The approximate speed in miles per hour 
of a railroad train on tracks of standard 
length rails is equal to the number of rail 
joints passed in 20 seconds. — Trautwine. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



253 




THE SEARCHLIGHT IN WARFARE 



During the recent revolt of the Zulus 
against the British in Natal, South Africa, 
a terrible and striking demonstration of the 
great gulf between barbarian and modern 
methods of warfare was afforded. Four 
years ago the young men of the Bukulusi 
tribe conquered a band of Boers and got the 
swell head over it. Since then the unrest 
has been developing and under the leader- 
ship of the rebel chief Bambaata the natives 
prepared themselves for the uprising. They 
were several thousand strong and their fight- 



ing was characterized by great courage, but 
against the equipment and military training 
of the British was hopeless from the start. 
The Zulus were killed by the hundreds in 
almost every engagement. In many in- 
stances electric field searchlights were used 
by the British and terrifying indeed to the 
superstitious savages it was to have the 
fierce white glare- thrown upon them just 
as they were stealing up for a midnight 
attack, rendering them fair targets for 
deadly marksmanship. 



MAY BUILD DAM ON CREST OF HORSESHOE FALLS 



The proposed construction of a dam 
almost on the crest of the Horseshoe Falls 
is bold enough to startle even 20th-century 
engineers. And yet such a dam is being 
seriously considered, and Alton D. Adams, 
in the Electrical Review, gives details of 
the subject. 

As will be readily understood the dam 
has become necessary on account of the 
rapidly decreasing amount of water which 
is passing over the falls. The great power 
plants at Niagara on the Canadian side are 
becoming alarmed at the diversion of water 
farther up the river and which is likely to 
be still greater when the new power com- 



panies succeed in getting permits to operate. 

Already two dams have been thrown out 
into the river above the falls on the Cana- 
dian side, one 780 ft. long,« extending out 
375 ft.; and the other 900 ft. long, running 
out diagonally with the farther end 600 ft. 
from the shore of Queen Victoria park. 

The proposed dam would be from 1,000 
ft. to 1,700 ft. long and nearly parallel to 
the crest line, would be submerged when 
completed and form a minor cataract. It 
would be constructed of stone and cement 
and securely anchored to the rock bed of 
the river. At this point the river flows 
about 25 ft. per second. 



254 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



ADVERTISING CANADA IN ENGLAND 
WITH A MOTOR CAR 



CARGO OF ROAST DUCKS 



A motor car, built in the United States, 
and loaded with tempting visions of the 
rich products of Canadian farms, has been 
sent to England by the Canadian govern- 




Canadian Exhibit for Foreign Lands 

ment. The car has already traveled 1,000 
miles among the towns and hamlets and will 
go to Ireland later, visiting county fairs. 
The scheme is declared a great success. 
♦ « ♦ 

MOORING ANCHOR FOR ALL 
GROUNDS 



The English wedge-clump mooring anchor 
illustrated will hold firmly in all grounds, 
it is said, and does not skid, shoe or drag. 
It is specially adapted, says the Shipping 
World, London, for shingle or sandy anchor- 
age, and holds in places where mooring 
screws, anchors, and other appliances have 



One of the strangest consignments ever 
landed at New York was the cargo of 8,000 
roast ducks, all the way from Shanghai. 
The ducks were roasted in China according 
to Chinese methods, and were three months 
on the way. As the ship had no cold stor- 
age and sailed by way of the Suez Canal, 
the fact that the ducks were aboard was no 
secret. In coming through the Indian 
ocean a great storm broke open the 100 big 
cases of pepper, so between the two the un- 
fortunate crew had a cruise which was 
something to remember. 

♦— •— ♦ ■ 

SANTOS DUMONT TRIES AERO= 
PLANE 



Santos Dumont is now experimenting 
with aeroplanes. His machine is 30 ft. long, 
with wings of bamboo and silk, 40 ft. spread. 
The backbone is steel; the propeller is be- 
hind and the rudder in front. A 24-hp. 




Santos Dumont's New Aeroplane 




Wedge=Clump Mooring Anchor 

failed — where the surface anchorage ground 
is sludge and shingle with smooth subsoil 
of the MacAdam order, and where the scope 
of the mooring chain is very limited. 



gasoline engine furnishes the power. He 
has thus far made no notable records in its 
operation, and must do something worth 
while or yield first place to Comte de La 
Vaulx, whose airship is scarcely half the 
size of Dumont's, and which has remained 
high in air for eight hours at one time. 
In this craft the propeller is in front and 
the rudder behind. 

ORDERS 130 LOCOMOTIVES 



One of the largest single orders for mo- 
tive power ever given was placed recently 
by the Burlington road. It calls for 130 
locomotives, which will weigh in all over 
48,000,000 lb., and if coupled together 
would reach almost two miles. The 100 
freight engines weigh 368,000 lb. each, are 
73 ft. long, and carry 8,000 gal. water and 
16 tons of coal. They are 2-6-2 high speed. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



255 



AMERICA BUSY AND PROSPEROUS 



A SMOKELESS DEPOT 



The unprecedented volume of business of 
the past year is not only being maintained, 
but is increasing. The Government reports 
show even greater crops this year than last. 
The great iron, car and locomotive works 
already have orders which will keep them 
busy far into the summer of 1907. The 
railroad report for the fiscal year ending 
June 30, from 45 roads with 73,000 miles, 
all show an increase in gross earnings ex- 
cept two — one a little coal road and the 
other a lumber road where the timber is 
exhausted. The increase in gross receipts 
is $100,000,000, or 13 per cent. This year 
3,500,000 tons of rails will be rolled, and 
the prospect is for over 4,000,000 tons next 
year. 

♦ • » • 

ACCIDENT TO THE "DEUTSCHLAND" 



When the great German liner "Deutsch- 
land" went in collision at Dover she suf- 
fered injuries which will cost $300,000 to 
repair. 




Greatest Boon to Travelers in Years 



At least one American railroad has waked 
up to the intolerable nuisance with which 
the traveling public everywhere is sub- 
jected, and has, built a common-sense train 




Repairing the "Deutschland" 



Common Sense Train Shed 

shed. It has not cost any more than any 
other equally good, in fact is not at all 
expensive, and only a fraction as costly as 
the old style high arched roofed depots so 
generally constructed. 

This new, sane depot is at Hoboken, N. J., 
and has a low roof built of steel girders and 
glass. The improvement consists in leaving 
a slot in the roof extending its entire 
length over the center of each track. No 
matter where a locomotive chances to stop, 
the top of its smokestack projects slightly 
into the opening, and the air brake pump 
can exhaust through the stack to its heart's 
content and nobody will care. The over- 
zealous fireman who likes to see the steam 
blowing off can now work his shovel over- 
time, but neither escaping steam nor clouds 
of gas and smoke can annoy his fellow 
men. The slot is 2% ft. wide and all the 
exposed metal is covered with cement, so 
the gases cannot harm the structure. 

The smoke nuisance in depots is by far 
the most annoying and unnecessary of all 
discomforts of present day railway travel. 
Our illustration is by courtesy of Railway 
and Locomotive Engineering. 
♦ » ♦ 

In the hope of increasing the value and 
promoting the development of her colonies, 
Germany has established a school for train- 
ing young men for life there. Every phase 
of farming and gardening is taught, also 
makeshifts for emergencies, etc. 



256 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




CONDEMNED TOURIST CAR BECOMES HOSPITAL 



Where Hundreds of Surgical Cases Were Treated After San Francisco Disaster 



The old tourist car, No. 2500, had seen 
the seamy side of life in the transportation 
business. For many yearst it had carried 
a fluctuating tide of humanity back and 
forth across the American continent. 
Usually its passengers had been fron^ the 
great middle class, which in America is 
synonymous with moderate means: — the 
homeseeker, the tourist, the excursionist, 
the healthseeker, or those drawn from their 
abiding places by some untoward event. 
Not that the crowds had been sad ones. 
Ah, no! The merriest and warmest-hearted 
people of all had traveled on No. 2500 and 
the fun was always spontaneous and with- 
out the formal restraint that a berth in 
the splendid and luxurious Pullmans im- 
posed. 

But there had been pathetic incidents: 
Now a woman with her babies going West 
to seek the husband who had not written 
her for months; once an old couple who had 
converted their earthly possessions into 
cash and were bound for California to 
stake it all on the health of their one 
boy — a hopeless consumptive; and again a 
little lone girl whose father lay in a grave 
in a mining-camp in the Nevadas and who 
was traveling eastward to find new friends. 
And ever the great-hearted people in the 
tourist car had rallied around these unfor- 
tunates and cheered them on their way, 
sharing the food cooked on the little stove 
at the rear of the car, or inventing games, 
or singing songs. And now No. 2500 was 
out of it all; condemned as worthless and 
shunted off on a siding at San Francisco to 
gradually fall into decay from non-use. 



The gay crowds, the sympathetic people, 
the international influx and exodus were 
thronging into other cars of more modern 
construction. As the darkness of night 
lightened into the gray of dawn early on 
the 18th of April, 1906, a string of these 
new cars crawled out of the yards, past No. 
2500, in all their pride of fireproof con- 
struction and new paint; ere long the slum- 
bering passengers would begin to rouse and 
call their gay greetings. Would No. 2500 
never again have part in life? 

* * * * 

A few hours later San Francisco, earth- 
quake wracked, was burning; the throes of 
Nature's convulsion had been transmitted 
to humanity, the number of the injured 
was increasing and there were few places 
of refuge or shelter. Then No. 2500's serv- 
ice was renewed. Swiftly the car was 
transformed into an emergency hospital. 
Operating tables, surgical instruments, 
medical stores, lavatories, etc., were hastily 
installed and a force of surgeons and 
trained nurses were assigned for duty by 
the railroad company. Then once more 
the people thronged to No. 2500; maimed, 
crippled, on the brink of death, they were 
brought in ^nd cared for. Over 600 in all, 
it is estimated, were treated and then sent 
on to the larger institutions. The old 
tourist car earned a new name; it became 
the "Good Samaritan," and now that the 
earthquake sufferers are all cared for its 
period of activity is not finished. The com- 
pany still maintains it as an emergency 
hospital and whenever there is an accident 
in the switching yards or vicinity the 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



257 



victim is first brought to this car to receive 
temporary and oft-times life-saving minis- 
trations before he is sent to a hospital. 
♦ > ♦ — 

JAPS WON VICTORY BY 'PHONE 



AN ELABORATE MOTOR=BUS OF 1832 



Nothing about the Russian-Japanese war 
was more remarkable than the manner in 
which the Japs used the telephone. Mar- 
shal Oyama, 20 miles in the rear at the 
battle of Mukden, deployed his troops en- 
tirely by means of the 'phone. After the 
Japs had taken 203-Metre Hill and begun 
the bombardment of Port Arthur, they 
built a bomb-proof for the use of the chief 
of artillery, strung wires to the point and 
from this place, whence he could see the 
warships in the harbor and the doomed city, 
the guns were commanded by 'phone with 
such accuracy that the fortress was taken. 
And these are only a few instances drawn 
from a large number. 



The practicability of the horseless vehicle 
was established as early as 74 years ago and 
the elaborately decorated monstrosity shown 
in the illustration was in successful opera- 
tion between London and Birmingham, En- 
gland. The machine, which was steam pro- 
pelled, was built by one Wm. Church, and 
resembled a double stage-coach. It had ac- 
commodation for 28 passengers inside and 
22 outside. 

The car was sufficiently successful to pro- 
voke legislation in regard to machines of 
the kind. Popular prejudice was against it 
and such excessive road tolls were imposed 
as to make the use of the 'bus far from 
profitable. Also, the railroads secured a law 
providing that a man with a red flag by day ' 
and a red lantern by night keep 100 yd. in 
advance of every motor carriage running on 
a street or highway. 




Steam Chariot of 1832== Carried 50 Passengers 



258 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



LOCOMOTIVE WIND SPLITTERS 



A HICKORY CONVENTION 



Radical Changes in Appearance Growing Out of High 
Speeds 



Locomotives with "beak casings," which 
now instantly catch the eye, may soon be- 
come so common as to attract no unusual 
attention. For the past 20 years the smoke- 
stack has been steadily shrinking in size 
and disappearing into the as steadily in- 
creasing boiler, until now in the latest 
American and Continental engines the 
"upper works" of cab, dome, sand box and 
stack are being brought closely to one level. 

Much more attention has been given 
abroad to the subject of atmospheric re- 
sistance when running at high speed than 



Delegates from the several thousand firms 
in this country using hickory in their manu- 
facturing held a convention to discuss what 
they should do about it. They frankly ad- 
mit it is a hard proposition, and conditions 
are actually alarming. 

It was found that 250,000,000 ft. of hickory 
is being consumed each year, and the end 
of the supply is alreaay within sight. While 
maple users are substituting ash, there ap- 
pears no available substitute for hickory to 
any extent. A committee of 15, one each 
from as many different lines of manufacture, 
was appointed to make plans for conserving 
the remaining supply and encouraging 
planting. 




Bavarian Locomotive==Speed 90 Miles an Hour 



here, but American builders are likely to 
adopt the same measures in the near future. 
The theory is admitted, but the practice 
has not yet been adopted. The illustration, 
from the Railway Age, is of a large and 
latest built locomotive, turned out at the 
works at Munich, for the Bavarian State 
Railways. With the exception of the wind- 
splitting features it will be noted as fol- 
lowing American lines more closely than has 
heretofore been adopted by foreign builders. 
The front end, however, still suggests a 
small boy who has just shed his front 
teeth. 

♦ • ♦ 

The only woman captain on the Great 
Lakes is Mrs. Ogden McClurg, of Chicago, 
the Government recently bestowing the 
rank. She commands the 74-ton steam 
yacht "Sea Fox." 

♦ • ♦ — — 

It is estimated that the cement kilns now 
in operation in the United S J j,tes can pro- 
duce 129,000 bbl. per day. 



WATER ANCHOR FOR BALLOONS 



A water anchor of French invention has 
been tested in several recent balloon trips 
made by Dr. Julian P. Thomas, the New 
York aeronaut. The anchor consists of a 
cone-shaped canvas bag holding 200 gal. 
of water and being attached at its mouth to 
a wooden hoop. When not in use the 
anchor is hung at the side of the basket. A 
rope 150 ft. long is attached to it. The 
anchor was used successfully when the bal- 
loon dropped into the Hudson river re- 
cently, and again during a 225-mile balloon 
voyage made by Dr. Thomas and Roy 
Knabenshue. In the latter voyage a new 
guide rope proved of great advantage, en- 
abling the aeronauts to descend wherever 
they liked, for meals or to get their bear- 
ings. The long trip was made without 
mishap. 

♦ • ♦ ■ 

The harder a metal is, the less friction it 
produces. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



259 



EXPERT ON FIREPROOFINQ 



Gen. Wm. Sooey Smith says that slow 
combustion of buildings can be secured by 
carefully whitewashing the inside and out- 
side with fireproof material laid on with a 
brush. Fire departments claim that they 
can extinguish almost any fire if only it is 
prevented from spreading too much before 
they can bring their engines into play. It 
is of the utmost advantage to protect each 
building from the danger of taking fire in 
case of the burning of its neighbors, and 
this can be at least measurably done by the 
whitewashing suggested. 

The essential characteristics of a fire- 
proofing material for buildings are: 

First — It must itself be incombustible. 

Second — It must be as nearly as possible 
a non-conductor of heat. 

Third — It must be strong and durable. 

Fourth — It must endure heating to red- 
ness and plunging into cold water without 
cracking. 

"While there are many so-called fireproof- 
ing materials in use for which these quali- 
ties are claimed, there was, up to a very 
recent period, not one of them that was a 
good non-conductor of heat, and that would 
stand heating to redness and being plunged 
into cold water while red hot without flying 
to pieces. 

» * ♦ 

OASOLINE MOTOR FREIGHT BOATS 



From the gasoline launch to a well devel- 
oped freighter is a logical progression, and 
vessels of this type are rapidly increasing. 
Several have been built on the model shown 



in the illustration, which is 120 ft. long, 
21 ft. 8 in. beam, and draws 4 ft. 6 in. The 
engine is 4-cylinder, each 11 in. diameter by 
13 in. stroke, and weighs 11 tons. A re- 
cent trip of 230 miles was made without a 
single stop. In still water a speed of 9 
miles an hour is attained on 9 gal. of 
gasoline per hour; or one gallon per mile 
per hour. Boats of this class are intended 
for use on inland waters, although one is 
running in the Gulf, out of New Orleans. 



HOUSEBOAT WHICH FOLDS UP 



A Canadian inventor has produced a 
houseboat in which the roof can be raised 
while the sides and ends of the cabin are 




Folding Houseboat 

folded down on the deck. The roof is then 
lowered and the boat occupies very little 
space. For passing under low bridges 
where otherwise the boat could not go, the 
device is convenient, as the folding process 
requires but little time. 




Gasoline Freight Boat for Inland Waters 



260 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



GIGANTIC FLOATING CRANE 



The building of a vessel, or any other 
large construction which exceeds in size all 
its predecessors, always involves more or 



SURVEYING FOR SUPERIOR=HUDSON 
BAY CANAL 

Two surveying parties are now engaged 
in running lines north and south for a 
canal to connect Lake Superior and Hud- 
son Bay. The southern end of the canal 
will be at Port Arthur, Canada, it is ex- 
pected. James J. Hill is backing the proj- 
ect, which will tap a vast and rich section 
of the Canadian wilds. 




Floating Crane for Handling Huge Vessel's Machinery 



less machinery and equipment of propor- 
tions until then unheard of and is apt to set 
a new standard for many and varied lines 
of industry. The new mammoth Cunarders, 
"Lusitania" and "Mauritania," now building, 
have not been behind in this respect. Our 
illustration shows a gigantic floating crane 
being used in fitting the "Mauritania" with 
her boilers and machinery. 

The crane is mounted on a barge 90 ft. 
long and 77 ft. beam which has four sets 
of propelling machinery and a speed of six 
miles an hour. The crane will lift 140 tons 
at an outreach of 44 ft. beyond the front of 
the pontoon. Two other lifts are of 5 tons 
and 20 tons capacity. 

♦ » ♦ 

The railways of Great Britain employ 
600,000 men, of whom 200,000 are engaged 
in track repairs. 



WIRELESS BLOCK SIGNAL SYSTEM 
FOR SEAS 



A wireless block signal system for the 
seas is declared to be possible through a 
new apparatus which acts over a short 
radius, even as short a distance as a half- 
mile, the field of operation being limited at 
will. The device could be used to notify a 
vessel of the proximity of other vessels in 
a fog or heavy weather, and so prevent col- 
lisions. 



It is said that a stream of water dis- 
charged under several hundred pounds 
pressure will resist the blow of an ax. The 
ax rebounds from the water as it would 
from a bar of steel. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



261 



FUTURE SUPPLY OF TELEPHONE POLES 



Present Annual Requirement for Renewal Alone 2,650,000 Poles==Demand 

Increasing 



At the present time there are about 800,- 
000 miles of pole line (telephone and tele- 
graph) in operation in the United States. 
By far the greater part of this mileage is 
located in the East, but the linking up of 
the cities, villages and rural districts of the 
West is proceeding at such a rapid rate, 
while the increase of mileage in the East 
has by no means reached its limit, that it is 
safe to declare that the greatest growth of 
the telephone system is still before it. With 
this prospect the question concerning the 
pole-line construction companies, is the 
future source of supply of poles, timber for 
cross-arms and insulator pins. The Year- 



several of the oaks are used. For cross- 
arms, longleaf, shortleaf, and loblolly pines 
of the South and Norway pine of the North 
are used; also cedar, cypress, spruce and 
red fir. For insulator pins, black locust is 
the best of all woods, but the supply has 
been so depleted, other woods as substitutes 
are being tested. 

As a measure against future distress from 
scarcity of poles both the government and 
the telegraph and telephone companies are 
carrying on extensive experiments in the 
preservative treatment of poles, tending both 
to lengthen the term of service of the pole 
and also to adapt new species to this pur- 





Treating Chestnut Poles by Tank Method Treating White Cedar by Brush Method 



book of the Department of Agriculture for 
1905 says: 

"Assuming that the 800,000 miles of pole 
line are constructed on a basis of 40 poles 
per mile, and that each pole contains an 
average of 20 cu. ft., it will be seen that 
there are now in use 32,000,000 poles, repre- 
senting 640,000,000 cu. ft. of timber. If the 
average length of life of these poles is 12 
years, there are annually needed, for the 
maintenance of the present lines alone, over 
2,650,000 poles, containing approximately 
53,000,000 cu. ft. of timber; and if it re- 
quires 60 years to grow a pole, to maintain 
the supply there should be five poles grow- 
ing for every one in use, or 160,000,000 poles 
for renewal merely, besides what the exten- 
sion of business will call for." 

The timbers chiefly used for poles are 
chestnut and Northern, Southern and Idaho 
cedar. Also, longleaf and shortleaf pine, red 
cedar, cypress, redwood, locust, catalpa and 



pose. Three treatments have been employed 
in these tests, two of which, the brush and 
the tank treatments, have proven practicable. 
Preliminary experiments were concerned 
with the seasoning of the poles. It was 
found that those cut in the winter dry more 
regularly and at the end of six months are 
better seasoned than those cut in the spring 
and summer. Also, that soaking in water 
for from two to four weeks hastened the 
rate of subsequent seasoning. Shrinkage 
was found to be less with air seasoning 
than with the application of artificial heat. 
In nearly all parts of the country the sec- 
tion of the pole subject to early decay is the 
part immediately above and immediately be- 
low the ground line; therefore, this is the 
part on which the preservative is used. The 
brush method consists in applying from one 
to three coats of preservative to the outside 
of that part of the pole between 2 ft. and 8 
ft. from the butt, the time between 



262 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



applications ranging from a few hours to 
two days. Poles treated were weighed, ex- 
amined and tested in every way possible. 

The tank method consists of soaking the 
butts of the poles in tanks so constructed 
that the poles lay at an angle of about 20°. 
The butts of the poles are immersed for a 
distance of about 8 ft. in a tank containing 
cold preservative, which is gradually heated 
by a fire underneath the tank until a tem- 
perature of from 240° to 270° P. is reached. 
This temperature is maintained for about 
five hours, when the fires are drawn. The 
poles are left in the tank for several hours 
after the preservative has become cold, so 
that the entire treatment consumes about 24 
hours. By this method a penetration of 
about y 2 in. is obtained. 

The cost of a green pole at the setting hole 
may be put at $5; of a brush-treated pole, 
$5.40, and of a tank-treated pole, $5.65. The 



YCARS scrvicc 



I* I YCARS SCRVICC 



13.3 YCAR3 SCRVICC 



» 6 YEARS SCRVICC 



tZ YCARS SCftVICC 



t estimated Life of Tan, 
Treated Pole 

{Time Pol 
Pay for 



Pole. Must Last To 
Tank Treatment 



{Estimated Life Of Brush. 
Treated Pole 

[Time Pole Must Last To 
\Pay For Brush Treatment 

(Estimated Life Of 
Green Pole 



Diagram Showing Value of Treatment 

average life of the green pole is about 12 
years; of a brush-treated pole, 16 years, and 
of a tank-treated pole, 20 years. By apply- 
ing a formula for calculating the annual 
charge on an expenditure occurring now 
and recurring regularly, we find that with 
interest at 4 per cent the annual charge for 
a green pole is $0.5328, for a pole treated by 
the brush method $0.4634, and for a pole 
treated by the tank method $0.4157. A com- 
parison of these annual charges shows that 
by using a pole treated by the brush method 
instead of a green pole an annual saving of 
about 7 cents is effected, while if a pole 
treated by the tank method is used the an- 
nual saving will be about 12 cents. The dif- 
ference between the annual charges for 
poles treated by the brush and by the tank 
method is 4 cents. 

These small savings may seem insignifi- 
cant in themselves, but if we apply them to 
the 32,000,000 poles in use we have the fol- 
lowing figures as the annual saving by using 
treated poles instead of green poles: 

By brush method $2,240,000 

By tank method 3,840,000 



These savings represent the value at the 
setting hole of 415,000 poles if treated by 
the brush method and 678,000 poles if 
treated by the tank method. 

In setting the poles with a view to noting 
the effects of the preservative, 300 seasoned 
30-ft. cedar poles and the same number of 
chestnut poles, some treated and some un- 
treated, were used in a Georgia telephone 
line, a section of the country where wood 
decays rapidly and therefore results could 
be obtained in the shortest possible time. A 
treated pole was placed between a green 
and unseasoned pole in every instance so 
that conditions are uniform and fair. Sev- 
eral years must elapse before conclusions 
can be drawn, but the importance of the 
work and the results already obtained are 
such as to warrant increased endeavor alone 
this line. 

♦ » ♦ 

WINDMILLS ON SAILING SHIPS 



Work the Pumps While the Men Sleep 



Ocean going sailing vessels, those which 
have no steam or gasoline engine power for 
hoisting purposes, can now be supplied with 
a pumping outfit operated by one or more 
windmills. There is always more or less 
leakage in even the best boats, and the 
bilge pump is as necessary an adjunct as 
the compass. On most sailing vessels these 
pumps are worked by hand, the process be- 
ing very monotonous and tiresome. The 
windmill apparatus, which is a patented 
affair, can be placed either at the top of the 
mast on schooners which have their fore- 
topmasts down, or two or three feet abreast 
of the main or mizzen masts, and clear of 
the sail and boom. The pumps already in 
use can be utilized for the new system, 
which is specially recommended for light- 
ships and other anchored craft. 




Windmill for Operating Bilge Pumps 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



263 



A windmill on a ship would look as un- 
usual as an anchor on a barn, but the idea 
is so practical it is likely to come into 
general use on vessels which use sails 
entirely for propulsion. 



♦ » » 



A LOCK WITH FOUR KEYS 



An improved type of hotel lock, which has 
recently been placed on the market, is pro- 
vided with four different keys, as shown in 
the illustration. The first, or guest key, 
will unlock the door from the outside, only 
when not locked with any of the other keys. 
From the inside, however, it will operate 
at all times, and when the door is locked 
from that side the knob on the other side 
cannot be turned. The stationary knob then 
indicates that the room is occupied, so that 
the maid will not unnecessarily awaken or 
disturb an occupant by inserting the mas- 
ter or floor key in the lock. When the door 
is locked from the inside by the guest key, 




Four Keys for Hotel Locks 

the key cannot be taken from the lock, thus 
always insuring the key being in the lock 
in case of Are or other emergency. 

Next in order is the master or floor key, 
designed for a maid's use, and operative 
on the locks of all rooms on a floor when 
not locked on the inside. 

Then comes the grand master key, which 
throws the locks on all rooms in the hotel 
when not locked on the inside. 

The fourth style of key is the emergency 
key, by the possession of which the locks 
on all room doors in the hotel can be un- 
locked from the outside, even when locked 
from the inside with the guest key in the 
lock. This key is designed exclusively for 
the use of the proprietor or manager, and 
kept, for instance, in the office safe, accessi- 
ble only to the owner or his designated rep- 
resentative, for use only in case of great 
necessity, as, for example, fire, sickness, 
suicide or other unnatural occurrence in 
the room. 



NEW RACK LOCOMOTIVE 
PIKE'S PEAK 



FOR 



The rack railway up Pike's Peak has re- 
ceived a new locomotive. It will burn oil 
instead of coal, the fuel tanks holding 325 




Rack Locomotive that Burns Oil 

gal. The engine weighs 60,000 lb.; is 
equipped with hand, steam and water brakes, 
and has a tractive power of 25,284 lb. The 
maximum grade on the line is 25 per cent. 
« — •— ♦ 

A NEW CRANK MECHANISM FOR 
GAS ENGINES 



In gas engines as usually constructed 
(i. e., with the crankshaft on the center line 
of the cylinder) the power stroke and ex- 
haust stroke are both equal, the angle of 
each being 180°; but in a crank mechanism 
recently patented and shown in the accom- 
panying sketch the power stroke is consider- 
ably longer. This is accomplished by plac- 
ing the crankshaft off center, as shown, and 
if this arrangement is not detrimental to 



Length o/ 




<SJ> 1 — <,k» 



Motion Diagram of Crank Mechanism 

the wearing qualities of the cylinder, it may 
possibly prove a great advantage in future 
gas engine construction. 

♦■ » » 

A sensitive thermopile and galvanometer 
will detect the heat radiated by a candle two 
miles away. 



264 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



DANGERS OF CITY LIFE 



The danger of sudden death from hostile 
savages and dangerous beasts that infest 
an African jungle is not necessarily as great 
as those which overtake the strenuous 
dweller in a great city. Every time he 
walks a business street he is in peril from 
dangers he seldom or never sees and of 
which he has no knowledge. 

Beneath the sidewalks are steam boilers 
weakened by long use and over-work which 
may let go at any minute; and stores of 
dangerous explosives and chemicals; like- 
wise accumulations of gas which only wait 
the moment when some electric wire emits 
the spark that sets it off. Towering above 
his head rise story on story of lofty sky- 
scrapers, with hundreds of open windows 
from any of which a careless occupant may 
drop some article that in its fall of two or 
three hundred feet becomes as deadly as a 
cannon ball. 

Painters and window washers may drop 
pails or tools, and frequently lose their own 
lives and endanger others when they miss 
their hold, or some rope breaks and drops 
them into the street below. The wonder 
really is that the fatalities are so few. 

The transportation systems, however, are 
the ones with the big death list to their ac- 
count. Were all the people who are killed in 
a single month by teams alone to lose their 
lives in a fire or railway accident, the daily 
papers would devote columns to the event. 
Occurring one at a time the fatal incident 
causes no excitement and receives only a 
few lines in an obscure part of the paper. 

Chicagoans perhaps take more chances 
than residents of other cities, or it may be 
for other reasons that its death roll from 
street accidents are larger than in any other 
city in the world, in proportion to popula- 
tion. During the first seven months of 1906 
there were killed 259 persons, while 2,671 
were injured. Last year's record was 425 



killed and 4,535 injured. For this year the 
causes of death are divided as follows: 
Trains killed 138, street cars 75, teams 59 
and automobiles 7. 

■ » • ♦ 

TUNING PIANOS BY TELEPHONE 



Among the increasing number of uses to 
which the telephone is put is that of tuning 
pianos, even at long distances. A man at 
South Bend, Ind., called up a piano tuner 
at Wabash, Ind., 64 miles distant, advising 
him that a new instrument needed tuning. 
The tuner told the owner to sound the in- 
strument, which was near the phone, and 
then gave directions for changing the ten- 
sion. The piano was then sounded again 
and pronounced in perfect order. 



ELECTRICITY AS A FIRE HAZARD 



The newspaper reporter has long found an 
easy and plausible excuse for city fires in 
the stereotyped "crossed electric wires." In 
the earlier days when less attention was 
paid to careful wiring and insulating mate- 
rials were of an inferior quality, and elee- 
tricans were less competent and experienced, 
there doubtless were frequent grounds for 
the charge. 

Largely through the work of the Fire Un- 
derwriters, restrictions and requirements 
have become standard which safeguard elec- 
tric wiring to such an extent that the old 
hoodoo is fast becoming obsolete. For in- 
stance, in New York city the fire losses 
from 1902 to 1905, inclusive, which were 
traceable to defective wiring or other elec- 
trical causes, were only 361 cases with a 
total loss of $207,610. The electrically caused 
fires were only 1.34 per cent of the whole, 
and the losses 1.15 per cent of the whole. 
♦ • ♦ 

Turpentine is better than oil for use when 
drilling hard steel, saw plate, etc. 




Seven Months' Record in Chicago 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 265 

ONE=MAN HAND SAWING MACHINE 




Worked with Coil Spring 



A one-man sawing machine, which, it is 
said, will cut a cord of wood in 40 minutes 
and does better work in operating the saw 
than where two men are required, is a recent 
invention. The machine is operated by a 
double acting coil spring adjustable to suit 
either the weakest or the strongest man. 
The coil spring is 10 ft. in length and 1 in. 
in width and pulls when the operator feeds 
and feeds when the operator pulls. 

With this invention one man can fell trees 
either on rough or on level ground and then 
cut the timber into logs or wood. The ma- 
chine is attached to a tree or log in a sec- 
ond's time ready for operation and the saw 
cuts straight into the timber from the first 
stroke. It may be used with either a short 
stroke or with a full sweep. The machine 
weighs 8 lb.; any sized cross-cut saw is 
used in it. 



HOW AN ACETYLENE GENERATOR WORKS 



Intense Light Possessing the Physical and Chemical Properties of Sunlight 



The light coming from the sun consists of 
several colors, which may be readily sepa- 
rated by pasing it through a triangular 
prism of glass. The colors thus formed are 
the same as those found in the rainbow, and 
are known as the solar spectrum. All of 
these colors have a certain effect on the eyes 
and the proportion of each that enters into 
the composition of sunlight has proved to be 
the most conducive to good vision. For this 
reason the light from kerosene or gas is in- 
ferior to daylight, as it contains an excess of 
red and yellow light and has practically no' 
violet light. 

The violet rays are the chemical rays and 
possess all the health-giving and germ- 
destroying properties which make sunlight 
so beneficial and desirable. They are also 
the rays which cause plants to grow, and for 
this reason plants cannot be raised by gas 
light or any other light lacking in violet 
rays. 

The electric arc-light while possessing an 
abundance of violet rays, is very unsteady 
and produces an unconscious eye strain 
which is very fatiguing to the nerves. This 
is especially true of alternating current arc- 
lights, where the fluctuations may be readily 
seen by rapidly moving any bright object 
such as a coin or pen knife, the effect being 
very similar to that of moving pictures. 



The acetylene light, unlike the electric arc- 
light, is very uniform and still has the de- 
sired violet rays which make it resemble 
sunlight. 

The effect of these rays 
is apparent in the accom- 
p a n y i n g illustration, 
which shows two lilies 
raised under exactly the 
same conditions, except 
that one received sun- 
light by day and acet- 
ylene light during the 
night, while the other re- 
ceived only the rays of 
the sun. 

The superior light of 
acetylene is not the only 
advantage it has over or- 
dinary city gas. The 
former is much cleaner 
as it produces no soot or 
smoke, when working 
properly. It also pro- 
duces less heat for the 
same amount of light, 
and consumes much less 
oxygen. There is prac- 
tically no danger of asphyxiation from acet- 
ylene, as it is less poisonous and of much 
stronger odor than city gas, and the danger 




266 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



of fire is now so much less than when the 
first crude experimental devices were in use, 
that the National Board of Fire Under- 



1 




i 


(TiJEafil 


1 |: 


m 


It' HSi 

tfn v. r^& 








I ■'9 




^^^^SHS^^^BrfflC ^^^^WHssllH^BliW^ 



Fig. 2==A Generator 

writers no longer make an increase in the 
insurance rate when acetylene apparatus is 
installed. 

The properties of calcium carbide are now 
so well understood that all the objections, 
which were so obvious in the earlier generat- 
ing apparatus, have been overcome. Instead 
of dropping water into the carbide, as was 
formerly done, the carbide is. dropped into 
the water. 

The parts of a modern generator are 
shown in Pigs. 2 and 3. The carbide is con- 
tained in a hopper, A, and drops on a revolv- 
ing disc, B, the movement of which causes 
the carbide to fall over the edge and drop 
into the water below. The disc is turned by 
means of the clockwork motor, C, which de- 
rives its power from the weights, D. 

As the carbide drops into the water it 
forms acetylene gas, which rises to the sur- 
face and passes into the gas holder, as 
indicated by the small arrows. In order to 
prevent residuum from accumulating in the 
water chamber, an agitator, B, is provided. 
It is made of a heavy wrought-iron bar, con- 
structed in the form of two paddles, which 
are attached to an upright rod, the end of 
which is formed into a crank in a convenient 
position for turning. 

As the gas passes into the gas holder, the 
tank, F, is slowly raised until it nearly 
reaches the top, when the chain, G, raises 
the lever, H, and stops the motor. This 



stops the disc, B, and thus prevents any 
more carbide dropping into the water. Some 
machines have a second lever which operates 
a little later, should the first one fail to 
work properly. 

The position of the weights is a fairly 
accurate indicator of the amount of carbide 
contained in the hopper, as the amount that 
is fed depends on the movement of the 
weights. An interference device, which locks 
the motor when the hopper is not properly 
closed, prevents any mistake in operating. 

As the gas leaves the reservoir, it goes 
through the filter, J, where it passes through 
several thickneses of felt, thus removing all 
particles of lime, dust or other physical im- 
purities in the gas, which would possibly 
clog up the burners. These impurities in 
the gas were responsible for the smoky 
lights in the earlier acetylene apparatus. 

A general view of the piping and installa- 
tion is shown in Fig. 4. The generator, 
usually placed in the basement, supplies all 
the burners, which are connected by pipes in 
the same manner that city gas is used. The 
cost of the entire apparatus for a residence 
is about $150, and the running expenses are 
about $15 a year. 

The discovery that has made the acet- 
ylene light a success commercially is that 
of Moissan, who first produced calcium car- 
bide by the chemical combination of lime 




Fig. 3==Section of Generator 

and charcoal. The two ingredients, on being 
mixed together and heated in an electric 
furnace, unite to form calcium carbide, 
which consists of one atom of calcium and 
two atoms of carbon (CaC 2 ). 

When this substance comes in contact 
with water, which is composed of hydrogen 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



267 



and oxygen (H 2 0), the calcium displaces 
part of the hydrogen, which then unites 




Fig. 4. "Acetylene Illumination Installation==Generator 
in Basement 



with the carbon and forms acetylene gas 
(CaC 2 + 2H 2 = C 2 H 2 + Ca(OH) 2 ) . 

Calcium carbide is also made with lime 
and coke, or lime and coal dust. The mix- 
ture is put into a crucible surrounded by a 
wall resting on a metal plate, which acts as 
an electrode. A large carbon rod passes 
through the cover and acts as the second 
electrode. A current of several hundred 
amperes is then passed through the mixture, 
which unites at a white heat to form cal- 
cium carbide. 

♦ « ♦ 

WHEN NAVIGATION OPENS ON THE 
YUKON 



The arrival at Dawson of the first river 
steamer after its tortuous journey of 1,800 
miles from the sea, is always the great event 
of the year. Its coming is eagerly watched 
for, and the welcome whistle of the first 
boat draws the people by hundreds to the 
dock. Although communication with the 
outside world is maintained through the 
winter by means of sleighs, the river trans- 
portation is depended on for the bulk of the 
freight traffic, and will be until more rail- 
roads are built. The ice went out this year 
on May 11, and in ten days the river was 
clear. 

The growth of the North in the next ten 
years will astonish the world, for this ex- 
panse of country of thousands of miles is 
destined to be inhabited by man and it will 
eventually supply all his needs. 

The soil is now beginning to produce just 
as man tills it, growing all the vegetables 



and many of the grains. The earth is pro- 
ducing coal, copper, gold, and many other 
metals are being discovered steadily, while 
the railway companies are driving their 
steel rails over mountain and valley, tapping 
the heart of the rich country. 

At Dawson we have opened today a nar- 
row gauge line of road which connects with 
the Forks (12 miles), a mining center, and 
by fall will be extended 30 or 40 miles more 
and eventually will reach 75 miles from 
town. Heavy dredging machinery is being 
shipped here and this phase of mining has 
proven to be very cheap and thorough, and 
a safe investment. The ground is unfrozen 
in many places which makes it easy to oper- 
ate, and the frozen parts are quickly thawed 
out with "steam points" in advance of the 
dredges. — Contributed by C. W. Tennant, 
Dawson, Y. T., July 16, 1906. 



NIAGARA POWER MILKS COWS 



A pole line for power transmission from 
Niagara Palls back into the state passes 
over and along hundreds of farms. The 
farmers are taking advantage of the oppor- 
tunity to use electric power, which in this 
case is cheap, for many of the daily occu- 
pations. One farmer, who has installed a 
milking machine in his large dairy, is using 
current generated at the Falls, cutting and 
grinding feed, milking, cooling the milk by 
mechanical refrigeration, and churning into 
butter, 

Really inventions are coming to such a 
pass that one is almost in doubt as to which 
is the greater wonder — the Falls themselves, 
or the many utilities which are made pos- 
sible by the great power plants at Niagara. 



SIGN CHECKS WITH THUMB MARKS 



Instead of the cross mark used by illiter- 
ate persons as a signature for many years, 
an impression of the right thumb is to be 
substituted. No two thumb marks are alike 
and therefore there would be less chance 
for forgery than when the cross mark is 
used. Large concerns employing many illit- 
erate -men — chiefly foreigners — have lost 
thousands of dollars through forged pay 
checks; losses the thumb impression system 
will at least materially decrease. Banks al- 
ways take a description of the depositor, but 
even this does not protect against forgery 
where the cross is used, as persons fre- 
quently change in appearance. The lines of 
tbe thumb do not change. 



268 ENCYCLOPEDIA 

REMARKABLE ACCIDENT-THE BALANCED COAL CAR 




" Not one time in ten 
thousand could the acci- 
dent to a train terminate 
as did the one illustrated. 
A string of twelve steel 
cars, each loaded with 50 
tons of coal, broke away 
and ran down hill to the 
dock at Conneaut, O. A 
strong buffer had been 
built to prevent cars from 
going too far, but this 
string came so fast that 
two cars went up and over 
into the water. 

The third car by chance 
stopped in such a way 
that a perfect balance was 
maintained. 



LIFE OF ELECTRICAL MACHINERY 



The very great increase in efficiency of 
electrical machinery during the past 15 
years has resulted in the throwing out of 
millions of dollars' worth of apparatus be- 
cause improved types were so much more 
economical. While improvements will doubt- 
less continue it must not be expected that 
further economies of operation from im- 
proved construction will continue in any- 
thing like the ratio of the past decade. This 
makes the question "What is the life of 
electrical machinery?" one of more conse- 
quence than formerly. 

Sir William Preece, an eminent English 
expert, recently made a report respecting 
the municipal works at Bristol, and from 
this report the Electrical Review, New 
York, condenses the following: 

"In his opinion, the life of the dynamos 
and alternators is 30 years, and the residual 
value 8 per cent. The life of the armored 
cables is 35 years, with a residual value of 
15 per cent. The life of motors is put at 25 
years, and their value at the end of that 
time at 9 per cent. Compare these figures 
with the similar ones for other parts of the 
equipment. The water-tube boilers, for ex- 
ample, are given a life of 25 years and a 
residual value of 5 per cent. The engines 
and other machinery are given 25 years and 
a residual value of 6 per cent. It is evident 
that, according to this report, the electrical 
machinery has a longer useful life than 
have other moving mechanisms, and this is 
to be expected if one considers the charac- 
ter of the work performed. 



"A few other figures from this report may 
be interesting. Storage batteries, for exam- 
ple, are given a life of 15 years, with a re- 
sidual value of 10 per cent — figures which 
will, doubtless, be a surprise to many." 
» » ♦ — 

MOUNTAINS OF FLAX 



The consumption of flax in the manufac- 
ture of binding twine, rope, etc., is increas- 
ing so rapidly that special effort is being 
made by the manufacturers to induce the 
planting of vast fields. Michigan is taking 
up the culture of flax on a large scale, one 
company alone contracting to take the entire 
product of 4,000 acres. The illustration 
shows one of the many mammoth stacks of 
flax which is heaped up in great piles 42 ft. 




Stack 460 Feet Long 

high, 50 ft. wide and 460 ft. long, 
tograph is furnished us by the 
Fibre Company. 



The pho- 
Summers 



SLIDES 4,000 FT. IN A MINUTE 



World's Greatest Toboggan== Descent 600 Ft.==Sportsmen Come From AH Europe 

to Slide on the Cresta Run 



By A. Sheldon Pennoyer 



Swifter than the flight of an arrow from 
the how; darting around curves with the 
quick movement of a swallow; falling over 
600 ft. in less than a minute; these are the 
experiences of the daring tobogganers who 
flock from all parts of Europe to Cresta 
Run, Switzerland. The sensation is some- 
thing never to be forgotten, and fascinating 
beyond description. No other method of 
fast going which one 
may experience and 
survive approaches it. 
Even parachute jump- 
ers say the descent 
from a balloon is les.i 
thrilling. 

The Cresta Run has 
been built each winter 
for more than 20 years 
past. At first tobog- 
ganers used only the 
"schlittli" or "Swiss" 
sled which resembles, a 
woodsleigh on a small 
scale. Running was 
done in a sitting pos- 
ture and steering was 
by means of sticks held 
in the hands or simply 
with the feet. But the 
sportive Englishman 
arrived on the scene 
and developed matters 
to a scientific point by 
inventing a new tobog- 
gan (called the "steel 
skeleton"), new meth- 
ods of steering and of 
riding. The toboggans 
are now of steel, the 
lying posture has been 
patronized altogether 




Cresta Leap"=-Finishing Point at Telegraph 
Pole at the Right 

269 



and the run is of glittering ice instead of 
snow as formerly. 

To ease the riding, cushions are placed 
on the board of the sled. The runners are 
a little more than % in. in diameter, and the 
gauge from 12 to 15 in.: The height with 
cushion £bout 6 in. and length about 4 ft. 
There are two distinct models of the "skele- 
tons" in use on the Cresta Run. The simpler 
is shown in the sketch. 
The other model differs 
in that it has a sliding 
body rest. Experience 
has shown that the 
weight should be back 
on a "skeleton" when 
rounding curves, such 
as are found on the 
Cresta, and that it is 
better to have the 
weight forward on 
straight stretches. The 
body rest is on rollers 
and fulfills its purpose 
exactly. 

Each winter that 
magnificent toboggan 
slide is staked out, the 
banks are formed and 
the whole length iced 
by applying water and 
allowing to freeze. The 
temperature goes often 
lower than 30 degrees 
below zero, but is not 
uncomfortable on ac- 
count of the dry cli- 
mate. 

To make a record on 
the Cresta means that 
one must have skill. 
The numerous curves, 



270 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



with their high banks, necessitate accurate 
and delicate steering. Though the banks on 
the curves are like the inside of a bowl, an 
inexperienced rider may easily go over the 
top. These banks are from two to ten feet 



HAS THE SIZE LIMIT IN OCEAN 
STEAMERS BEEN REACHED? 




and more above the bottom of the run, as 
the case may require. 

The Cresta start is at the head of a can- 
yon in the Engadine. There are eight sharp 
curves, and three exceedingly steep stretches, 
commonly called "leaps", although the 
toboggan does not leave the track. Six hun- 
dred feet below the starting point is tne 
finishing line, about three-quarters of a 
mile separating the two. After the finish- 
ing point the run goes up a hill, and some 
who have not put their feet down to re- 
duce the pace, have travelled as much as 
40 ft. through the air at the top of the hill. 

Bobsleighing, as well as skiing and 
skating, play a great part for many, too, in 
the Engadine. The record on the Cresta 
Run was made in the Grand Nationale of 
1905, when an Englishman completed the 
course in 59 seconds and a fraction. 

A telegraph 1 line follows the run, and ex- 
act and automatic electric instruments re- 
cord the instant of start and finish. The ap- 
paratus has previously been described in 
these pages. There are two runways: that 
shown on the left in the illustrations is for 
bobsleighs; on the right for "skeletons." 



There are some wise old sea dogs who 
shake their heads and declare that the ex- 
treme limit in mammoth ocean passengers 
has already been attained, if not actually 
overreached. They maintain that the dan- 
ger in case of accident or panic is very 
greatly increased in the case of the ex- 
tremely large craft. Smaller ships and 
more frequent sailings are said to be the 
coming thing. The American Shipbuilder 
says: "We might say that their great sizv 
tends to their structural weakness and early 
decay * * there is a limit to safety in 
ocean steamers as on every other class of 
carriers." 

On the other hand naval constructors have 
a constantly increasing experience in their 
work, and appliances for working great steel 
sections which did not exist five and 10 
years ago. Only a short time ago 20 stories 
was considered the limit for skyscrapers. Our 
age is one which rebels at the thought of 
having reached the extreme limit in any- 
thing. The limit in locomotive weight has 
been fairly approached, if not reached, but 
only on account of the economic limitations 
of track and bridges. With the ocean grey- 
hound no such restriction exists, and while 
the mammoth is more difficult to get in and 
out of port, this consumes but a small part 
of her time. We predict the 1,000-ft. steamer 
within the next five years. 




The Cresta Run, With the Engadine Valley in the Distance .-(Run Closed tor Repairs) 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



271 




Where the Cresta Run (right) and the Bobsleigh Run (left) Pass Under the Railroad Bridge 

WAGES IN THE CANAL ZONE TELEPHONE IN MID-LAKE 



"To hear many of these self-constituted 
commentators talk one might think that the 
two continents could be severed with a 
cross-cut saw. * * The work undertaken 
on the Isthmus is the greatest ever under- 
taken by man." So writes the editor of the 
"Bricklayer" on his recent return from 
Panama. 

In order to make the zone habitable for 
Americans it was found necessary to pro- 
vide all the living requirements— water 
works, sanitation, places of abode, and food 
supplies. The housing system includes 
hotels for single men, houses for families, 
rooming houses for men who board else- 
where, and barracks for laborers. Brick- 
layers receive $150 per month; general fore- 
men $150; ordinary foremen, $125; master 
mechanics, $175 to $200; carpenters, etc., 56 
cents per hour. Payment is in U. S. cur- 
rency. The climate is very hard on drink- 
ing men. 



"Come on in, the water is fine." 
This was the message sent from a tele- 
phone installed on a small pier in Salt Lake, 
half a mile from shore, to a friend sitting in 
his office in Salt Lake City, nearly 20 miles 
away. The lake is very shallow and bathers 
can go out a long distance. The wires con- 
necting the instrument with land are in- 
closed in a half- inch iron pipe. 



WINDMILLS ON BOARD SHIP 



SNOW WILL BURST A GUN 



A little plug of snow in the muzzle of a 
gun is sufficient to cause the gun to burst, 
if it is fired while in that condition. The 
time required for the snow to discharge 
is short, indeed, but quite long enough for 
the tension of the powder gases to become 
sufficiently great to burst the barrel. 



A novel use of windmills was made on 
board the exploring ship "Arctic." To save 
fuel, all of which must be carried, a set of 
windmills were erected when the ship be- 
came ice-bound. The power was employed 
in compressing air which was used to run 
a generator and charge storage batteries for 
lighting the ship. The system was suf- 
ficiently successful to warrant the American 
Shipbuilder in recommending the adoption 
of windmills on board tbe lightships which 
serve as floating lighthouses along our coast. 

These vessels are where they are subject 
to almost continuous winds from some di- 
rection, and it is believed would make 
enough current not only to light their sig- 
nal lamps, but sufficient to cook with and 
possibly warm the ship in winter. The sug- 
gestion is made that the experiment be 
given a thorough trial, not only on the light- 
ships but with lighthouses also, which are 
usually in exposed locations. 



272 ENCYCLOPEDIA 

A WHISPERING TELEPHONE NARROW GAUGE ROADS OBSOLETE 



Transmits Words Spoken in Ordinary Tone 30 
Ft. From Instrument 



The dictograph is the latest in telephones. 
You can stand 10 ft. away and whisper 
your message, or when 30 ft. distant speak 




Latest Telephone 

in an ordinary tone of voice and the mes- 
sage will be clearly and audibly transmitted. 
Its construction is a secret of the inventor, 
the chief difference from the ordinary tele- 
phone being in the receiver which has less 
induction coils or none at all, and which can 
be heard at some distance, thus avoiding 
the necessity of, holding a receiver to the 
ear. 

The Western Electrician says: "It can 
very easily be used by an employer for dic- 
tating to a stenographer, as the latter could 
take the dictation at any distance from the 
speaker, without having to hold a receiver 
to the ear. It, of course, works both ways, 
allowing both persons to convei'se equally 
well." This explains the name "dicto- 
graph." 

In detective work it promises to prove 
an exceedingly valuable adjunct. Where a 
third party is desired to hear an interview 
between two others it will no longer be 
necessary for the witness to hide behind 
screens and in other inconvenient places. 
The dictograph can be hung behind a pic- 
ture or under a desk or even placed in a 
partly opened drawer of the desk and will 
transmit faithfully the entire conversation 
to one or more witnesses in another room, 
or to a stenographer. 



Narrow gauge railroads are no longer 
built in this country and have almost en- 
tirely disappeared. Even the rolling stock 
is of little use when mounted on standard 
gauge trucks. It is too light for safety in 
heavy trains and too small to meet the 
shipping demands of today. One road 
scrapped $163,000 of such equipment last 
year. 



PROTECTED FIGHTING MOTOR CAR 



A new and advanced -type of armored 
motor car has been built in Austria. It is 
a rapidly moving fort in which the gunners 
are protected from all small arms fire while 
working rapid-fire machine guns on the 
enemy. The rear part of the car carries the 
revolving turret containing the gun and 
space for three men. A 40-hp. motor pro- 
vides an average speed of 25 miles an hour 
on country roads and over pastures. It is 
especially geared to all four wheels for hill 
climbing and is said to mount a 60 per 
cent grade. The armor is %-in. steel plate. 




Austrian Armored Motor=Car Gun Carriage 

So successful has the experiment proved, 
that the builders already have under con- 
struction a 220-hp. armored motor boat, and 
also a fast running armored ambulance. 



TWO=SPEED STEAM TURBINE 



An English inventor has built a steam 
turbine which is capable of adjustment to 
two, and possibly more, speeds. This is 
accomplished by means of two steam ad- 
mission ports into either of which the steam 
may be directed at will. The slow speed 
is about one-half that of the high speed. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



273 



THE GREAT TRUCKEE= CARSON* SIN! 

CANAL 



With 200 Miles of Waterway, Costing $9,000,000 Will Reclaim 385,000 Acres of 

Nevada Desert==Now Worthless Land Will be Worth 

$100,000,000 in Ten Years 



In our far west lie millions of acres of 
arid, desert waste, whose monotony is un- 
relieved, save for an occasional sage bush 
or stunted cactus, and infested with rattle- . 
snakes, centipedes and other deadly reptiles. 
The sun pours down incessant heat which 
the alkali plain hurls back, while shrouding 
the daring traveler in a cloud of stifling 



repeated on a larger scale by the govern- 
ment. Where those early pioneers toiled with 
pick and spade and wheelbarrow to coax 
a tiny brook across which a little child 
might step, the engineering department of 
a great Nation turns a river from its course 
and carves a new channel through moun- 
tains and across plains. With dynamite and 




Section of Canal Before Water Was Let in 



dust. Eain is unknown for months and 
even years. Absence of food and water 
constitute barriers more effective than any 
wall, and deny to man his right of posses- 
sion. 

And yet this most unpromising and worth- 
less of soils, when touched with the magic 
in a little stream of water bursts into an 
extreme of fruitfulness, and becomes most 
valuable of all lands for cultivation. 

The miracle which the hardy Mormons 
worked in the Salt Lake valley is being 



locomotives and steam shovels it works; 
nor pauses by night, for there is no night 
beneath the glowing electric arc. 

Nine millions of dollars, advanced by the 
government for the work, will provide 200 
miles of waterway and reclaim 385,000 acres 
which, will be sold tc settlers at $26 per 
acre, payable during 10 years, without in- 
terest. Long before the final payment be- 
comes due each acre will be worth $300. 
A large part of the undertaking is already 
finished, and next month will mark its 



274 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 







|B 


- Km : '*flH 




HH ii^^l Br 


m ' 


■ 




■ 






-f^fa 



Mouth of One of the Tunnels 

completion. The work is called the Truckee- 
Carson-Sink Irrigation canal. 

Fifteen miles east of Reno, Nevada, a 
great dam has been thrown across the 
Truckee river, diverting its waters and 
sending them southeast through 31 miles of 



canal to the Carson river, whose channel is 
used for. several miles until a second dam 
is reached. At this point the water is 
divided into two canals, which separate like 
a letter V and subdivide into branch canals 
to cover the district. 

The Truckee river dam, as shown in the 
illustration, is a fine piece of engineering 
work, its construction involving many diffi- 
culties not suggested by the picture, as the 
river is dangerously swift. Gates control 
the flow to both canal and river. 

Four tunnels were cut through rock, re- 
spectively 1,600 ft, 900 ft., 400 ft. and 250 
ft. long, and are faced with 1 ft. of cement, 
as also are those open canal sections pass- 
ing through sandstone. The main canal is 
32 ft. wide at top, sloping to 20 ft. wide at 
the bottom. To provide sufficient storage 
water seven reservoirs will be required, 
some of which are already completed. 

The canal for the first six miles of its 
course has a capacity of 1,400 cu. ft. of 
water per second. At the end of this sec- 
tion a branch with a capacity of 250 cu. ft. 
per second branches off to the north, cross- 
ing the Truckee river by means of an in- 
verted syphon running in the direction of 
Pyramid lake, supplying some 27,000 acres 
of land, part of which is in the Pyramid 
Lake Indian Reservation. 

In the prosecution of the work there were 




Main Dam==Entrance to Canal 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



275 



constantly employed 2 locomotives and 
trains, 4 steam shovels, 800 teams and 1,500 
men. 

The sale of land will just about reimburse 



the government for its $9,000,000 outlay, but 
in 10 years the value of this land should be 
over $100,000,000, thus adding about $90,- 
000,000 to the wealth of the nation. 



A LOCOMOTIVE ON SKATES 



Of all the unusual purposes to which loco- 
motives were ever put, a locomotive on 
skates undoubtedly is the most unique. The 
locomotive is one used on a logging road 
in Minnesota, of the geared type common on 
such lines. The owners had occasion to do 
a large amount of hauling from points some 



save the long distance around the shore. 
The ice proved firm and thick, and this por- 
tion of the trip is made with the least power 
and at highest speed. From five to seven 
miles an hour are maintained with a long 
train of heavy logs loaded on to "bobs." 
Eailway Engineering says one of the rules 




distance from the end of the track, and con- 
cluded to try the novel experiment. The 
front truck was removed and a strong sled 
substituted which not only supports the 
forward end of the locomotive, but serves 
to guide its course by means of a hand 
wheel and gearing. The man who steers 
sits in front next the lower headlight. 

Traction is secured by means of an end- 
less metal belt which covers the driving 
wheels and moves as the drivers turn. The 
belt is provided with steel points or caulks, 
which are driven into the frozen ground or 
ice and render movement of the machine 
possible. The engine can be operated either 
forward or backward, the runners being 
turned up at both ends. The movement of 
the drivers is controlled by the reverse lever 
and throttle just as when running on rails. 

A part of the route to be hauled over was 
across a lake, and the danger of breaking 
through the ice was chanced in order to 



A Locomotive on Skates is Unique" 

of the company is "no skating on thin ice," 
and that there is no desire on the part of 
the employes to disregard the order. 



TELEPHONES ON BARBER CHAIRS 



A barber shop in Paterson, N. J. has in- 
stalled a telephone for each barber chair 
and the customer can talk on social or busi- 
ness matters while having his hair cut. The 
experiment is said to have been so satis- 
factory that other shops in the city have 
had to do the same. 

+—+ 

A thrilling incident in the experience of 
Chief Campion, of the Chicago Fire Depart- 
ment occurred recently. At the head of a 
rescue party he entered a burning building, 
and found on emerging that the fireman he 
bore out in his arms was his own son, Capt. 
Campion. 



276 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



STEAM WAGON 50 FT. LONG 



Steam wagons 50 ft. in length are in ser- 
vice in Leeds, England. The boiler, steer- 
ing and controlling levers are at the front. 
The rear wheels of the motor truck are the 
drivers. The engine is compound, with 



other, but it is at the expense of a ,duplica= 
tion of parts which still retain the longi- 
tudinal motion of piston and crosshead, 
and the expense for the repairs of these 
parts must increase with the number. There 
is also the constant uncertainty of the 
crank axle." 




SJx=Wheel Steam Motor Wagon 50 Ft. Long 



cylinders 4% in. and 7% in. by 7% in. stroke. 
The .heating surface is 56 sq. ft., and the 
grate area 2% sq. ft; steam pressure 175 
lb. The engine runs at 500 revolutions, but 
has two gears to the axle, one 5.5 to 1, the 
other 8 to 1; the working load is 5 tons for 
the main truck and two tons on the trailer. 
The two-wheel trailer may be of any de- 
sired length up to 50 ft. over all for entire 
wagon. The trailer is connected by means 
of a bolster, and can be detached for short 
loads. For hauling long girders, timbers, 
etc., the trailer is a great convenience. 
■» ♦ » 

TURBINE OR ELECTRIC LOCO= 
MOTIVE ? 



That the steam locomotive has probably 
reached its ultimate improvement is frankly 
conceded by many prominent railroad men. 
The Railway Age in an editorial says: "The 
principal objection to the usual design for 
the simple engine in locomotives is the de- 
structive effect of the counterbalance for 
the reciprocating parts at high speed which 
is damaging to the track and to the engine. 
There is also the wear and expense for re- 
pairs, much of it due to the constant stop- 
ping and starting of the piston crosshead 
and valve twice during every revolution. 
The former objection, relating to counterbal- 
ance, is successfully overcome by the use 
.of four cylinders with pistons arranged so 
that the reciprocating parts balance each 



The electric motor moves its car in either 
direction desired, but in doing so has no 
forward and backward motion; it revolves 
constantly in one given direction like a 
wagon wheel. Hence railroad experts were 
rapidly coming to the conclusion that the 
electric motor would be the logical successor 
to the steam locomotive. H. Lentz, a promi- 
nent engineer of Berlin has invented a 
steam turbine for locomotives, in which one 
turbine is placed on each driving axle, the 
steam passing from one to the next. The 
application of the turbine to railroad work 
requires radical changes from i'ts use in 
either stationary engines or marine service, 
but there are those who predict it will be 
the accepted type for. locomotives within a 
short time, . and continue for many years 
thereafter. 

+-+-+ 

CLAIM NORTH POLE DISCOVERY 



Capt. Amundsen, the Norwegian Arctic ex- 
plorer, has reached Eagle City, Alaska, hav- 
ing been the first white man to make the 
northwest passage. He claims to have lo- 
cated the magnetic north pole. Capt. 
Amundsen left Norway on June 1, 1903, 
reaching Eagle City December 5, 1905. His 
surveys in the region of the magnetic north 
pole are believed to have at last located the 
pole. Whether he found the pole +o be a 
fixed point or a circumscribed area is not 
yet known. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



277 



MAY DREDGE A FAILING RIVER 



ENGLISH LOCOMOTIVE OF 1870 



The construction of the Panama canal 
revives the question of deepening the Mis- 
sissippi, which each year becomes more dif- 
ficult of navigation. The destruction of 
thousands of acres of timber in Wisconsin 
and Minnesota during the past 20 years has 
practically denuded the headwaters and 
caused alternate periods of flood and 
drought. The rains and melting snows no 
longer soak into the ground to be given out 
in springs, but go off with a rush. 

The plan to spend millions to provide a 
deep channel in the Mississippi seems ex- 
tremely poor policy unless the government 
previously secures vast forest areas at the 
headwaters. With a sufficient water supply 
the great river would teem with a freight 
traffic never known even in the good old 
steamboating days of the Ws. 

Man can chop down in a few months 
what required 30 years to grow, and the 
sconer this nation gets real busy planting 
trees the better off it will be. 



The photograph of an English locomotive 
which was the pride of railroad men in 1870 
is interesting in comparison with present 
types. These locomotives were built in 




Vintage of 1870 

France at a cost of about $12,000 each, and 
were used to draw the .fastest express 
trains. A curious feature will be noticed 
in the fact that the diameter of the driver:* 
exceeds the height of the tender. 



PORTABLE MOTOR DOG CLIPPER 




This is Dangerously Near to the Motor Hand Organ ! 



The gas engine has added another and 
most unique of all services-. It is a portable 
dog clipping or shearing machine, mounted 
on a two-wheeled push cart. The Motor 
Age says: "On the front of the gig is a 
large flywheel revolved by round leather 
belt from a small wheel on the end of the 
crankshaft, and the axle of the flywheel is 



continued in the form of a flexible shaft, 
much the same as that used by dentists. 
On the end of the shaft is fastened a small 
pair of ordinary hair clippers. The sheep 
or dog is held on the knees of an attendant 
when a second party, generally a woman, 
seizes the end of the flexible shaft carrying 
the clippers which work rapidly." 



278 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF DRY DOCKS 



How Great Ships are Taken From the 
Water, Repaired and Floated Again 



By Arthur R. Schroeder, U. S. N. 




Ship "Hove Down"==The Old Way 



The advent of iron and steel vessels, and 
the ever increasing tonnage of our marine, 
both naval and merchant, has all helped to 
raise the standard of design, workmanship 
and skill in the construction and operation 
of dry docks of today. 

In the early part of the Nineteenth cen- 
tury it was frequent practice to beach all 
ships requiring repairs' and cleaning to the 
underbody. This was made practicable, be- 
cause the rise and fall of the tide on most 
ocean coasts is sufficient to allow vessels 
of the then prevailing displacement, to be 
examined in this manner, and even to this 
day on many of the smaller craft on the 
coast-wise trade repairs are still made with 
the assistance of this simple method; the 
only requisites necessary being a fall of the 
tide to exceed the draft of the vessel, and a 




Fig. i*=U S. S. "Petrel" in Railway Dry Dock 



beach composed of good foundation ma- 
terial. 

Beginning with 2,200-tons for ships in 
1800 the tonnage rose slowly to 5,000 tons 
in 1870, at which point it remained for 20 
years; but since 1890 this tonnage has so 
rapidly increased that already 40,000 tons 
has ceased to be a wonder. This increase 
has called for great improvements in dry 
docks to meet the new demands. 

The marine railway, shown in Fig. 1, was 
for a long time the only improvement, and 
shows the 900-ton gun-boat, U. S. S. 
"Petrel," having her bottom scraped and 
painted, and sea-valves examined. From 
the illustration all points of advantage and 
objection are visible, and may be readily 
noted. The advantages lay in the smaller 
first cost, cheap maintenance and quick 
docking, but the objections are so serious, 
that this design is no longer considered in 
a time of increasing tonnage, ship dimen- 
sions and congested harbors. For a long 
vessel the design is structurally weak, and 
this objection is magnified for vessels over 
18 ft. draft and 50 ft. beam. Moreover, the 
shore and water space occupied is almost 
prohibitive, and if located close to a pier 
or wharf is always a source of danger and 
annoyance to' large ships intending to come 
alongside, by striking the submerged por- 
tion of the railways. The principle of ope- 
ration is not 'complex. The dock is allowed 
to slide down the inclined plane on which 
the rails are laid under water, until the 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



279 



floor of the structure has reached a depth 
that will safely permit the vessel to enter. 
The cradle and vessel having safe and suit- 
able positions are hauled together up the 
plane, and as the receding water allows the 
ship to rest upon the keel blocks first at the 
bow point, the chocks are hauled in and 
the tendency to capsize is prevented. This 
operation continues until the vessel ceases 
to be a floating body. Fig. 2 shows to what 
extent the vessel is pulled clear of the 
water. 

The floating dry dock succeeded the marine 
railway, in places where for commercial and 
engineering reasons the use of the latter 
was not desirable, and even now there are 
over a dozen of this design capable of han- 
dling ships' of 12,000 tons. The operation, 
like the marine railway, consists of two 
moves: First, submerging; second, lifting; 
but instead of the motion being in an in- 
clined plane, it is vertical, and is independ- 
ent of any fixed position, the whole outfit 
being self contained. The structure con- 
sists of a number of pontoons so arranged 
as to be filled with water, thus sinking the 
floor to any required depth, to suit the hull 
of the ship. These pontoons are connected 
by suitable pipe lines to large pumps, lo- 
cated on each side of the dry dock, and dis- 
charging overboard. When the ship has 
been floated in and measurements taken 
that show her in a central position over the 
keel blocks, the pumps are started and the 
pumping and floating process begun; and 
since the dock is so designed that the 
weight of the sinking fluid is so much 
in excess of the weight of the ship, upon the 
removal of this water floating readily takes 
place and is governed by the weight of the 
discharge from the pumps. The chocks are 





Fig. 3= 



U.S. S. "Princeton" in Gravity Dock at 
Mare Island, Cal. 



Fig. 2==ln Railway Dry Dock 



set as the keel blocks reach the keel and 
the ship lifted clear of the water ready for 
repairs and examination. 
. While the construction and maintenance 
is greater than the type first mentioned, it 
is' more common. This dock is capable of 
transportation over long distance and easily 
adapts itself to all harbors. The space oc- 
cupied is confined to the structure itself, 
no outside auxiliaries being used. The con- 
struction can be made very strong. While 
this dock is still made of wood, the large 
docks of recent dates, such as we have at 
Algiers, La.; Havana, Cuba; and a new float- 
ing dry dock to be situated at Manila, 
Philippine Islands, are of steel with the 
latest and most approved method of struc- 
tural work. The most desirable docks for 
large ships which have yet been used may 
be seen at all of our large ship yards' and 
the navy yards of the United States. The 
design is the most simple we have dealt 
with, yet the details of workmanship and 
building require skill of the highest order. 
The new dock for use in the Philippines was 
described in the August, 1905, number. 
Fig. 3 shows the U. S. S. "Princeton" in the 
gravity dock at Mare Island Navy Yard, 
California. This type can be safely built 
to accommodate any vessel that may be con- 
structed, and asking no other conditions, 
save a good solid foundation. 



280 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Fig 4==Filling Gravity Dock at High Tide 

The operation of this dock is rather a 
reversal of the conditions for the floating 
dry dock. In one the ship is taken away 
from the water, and in the other the water 
is taken away from the ship. At high tide 
the dock is allowed to fill to the greatest 
depth through the sluices, shown in Fig. 4, 
when this is completed the same operation 
occurs on the "gate" as takes place on the 
floating dry dock. The gate is raised, 
floated away from the sill and the dock is 
open to the river or hay on which it is lo- 
cated. The ship is entered and moved to 
the proper position, when the gate is re- 
turned and sunk. Centrifugal pumps 



remove the enclosed water, which, as it re- 
cedes, allows the ship to descend and rest 
upon the keel blocks while the chocks and 
side shores are fitted. Great care must he 
exercised in the construction and workman- 
ship of the gate to insure a water-tight 
joint, for upon its success depends the safety 
of both dock and ship. These docks cost a 
great deal more than any others, but the 
cost of repairs is very small in like propor- 
tion. 

The gravity docks, located practically on 
dry land, and in close proximity to the 
shops and forges, permit repairs to be 
made quickly and efficiently, and are free 
from any interference with shipping. Float- 
ing the vessel is the reversal of the events 
for docking, and is shown in Fig. 4. The 
original docks were built of stone and long 
outlive any timber docks now in use. As 
an example of these changes we have the . 
old stone docks' and the later timber dry 
dock at the Brooklyn navy yard. However, 
to safely handle the big ships of today, 
both of these materials have given way to 
reinforced concrete, of which the new Bos- 
ton navy yard dry dock is made. 

The necessity of dry docking a ship is 
not always for repairs, but more frequently 
for the purpose of cleaning the submerged 
portion of the hull of any submarine growth 




Fig. 5==HulI of Steel Vessel After Cruise of Less than Five Months in Tropical Waters 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



281 



that may attach itself. All iron and steel 
bottoms become seriously coated with bar- 
nacles and vegetation, and this often be- 



As 



Cross Section Floating Dry Dock==A, Keel Block; 
B, Chocks; C, D, Pontoons 

comes as bad as shown in Fig. 5, which is an 
iron vessel, less than five months in tropical 



waters and practically clean at the start 
of this period. Such a growth as this causes 
the speed to decrease and requires a much 
greater expenditure of coal to cover the dis- 
tance. Many of our wooden ships are cov- 
ered with copper sheeting to prevent the 
adherence of these growths and preserve 
the wood; also naval vessels operating in 
tropical waters are copper sheeted, thus 
permitting them to remain long periods out 
of dry docks, the submarine animal and 
vegetable matter having but little effect on 
the copper. While many devices have been 
tried to overcome the difficulty, copper 
sheeting or a coating in which copper sul- 
phate is the chief ingredient has proved the 
only practical remedy. 



PORTABLE SUB=STATIONS FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS 



A complete sub-station for transforming 
installed in a car which can be hauled to 
any place on the line of the road is now 
available. The car contains the full com- 
plement of machinery found in a sub-sta- 
tion of equal capacity, including transform- 
er, rotary converter, high-tension switch- 
board and all the usual details. These 
«ars are strongly built and range from 30 
ft. to 41 ft. in length according to capacity 
of the station. This portable sub-station is 
used as an auxiliary in cases of emergency, 
such as an unusual event drawing great 
crowds to some point on the line where 
ordinarily the travel is light. In case of 
accident to any of the permanent sub-sta- 
tions the car can be substituted while re- 
pairs are being made. 

On most large electric railway systems 
current is generated at the power house at 
from 2,000 to 15,000 volts alternating cur- 
rent, as this can be transmitted on smaller 
wires and with much less loss than the di- 




rect current of from 500 to 600 volts, which 
the street car motors require. Hence the 
necessity, at intervals throughout the sys- 
tem, of transforming, or sub-stations, where 




Interior of Car Showing Transformer 

this high voltage . alternating current is 
changed to the much lower voltage direct 
current. 



An enormous amount of railroad re- 
construction work is being done in the far 
West. The Santa Fe road will spend $12,- 
000,000 in shortening its line to the coast 
and the Southern Pacific twice that amount. 
Eight tunnels will.be cut through the Sierra 
Nevada mountains which will shorten the 
line forty miles and reduce the grade 2,000 
ft. Thirty-two miles of snowsheds will be 
abandoned when the tunnels are completed. 
* » ♦ 



Transformer Car 



282 



NCYCLOPEDI A 



TO HAUL COAL IN STOCK CARS 



A new style of stock car is now being 
built which, is equally adapted to hauling 
coal, coke or ore. Every time an empty 




Floor Closed for Stock 

car is hauled over a line it is a clear loss 
to the railroads, and when a car which has 
carried live stock from Chicago to the sea- 
board is hauled back empty there is a thou- 
sand miles of ear service gone to waste. It 
not only involves the expense of pulling the 
car, but there is the additional loss of sev- 
eral days' use of the car when it should 
have been earning money. 

Not all the stock cars are returned empty, 
but the trouble of unloading coal, coke and 
ore has made them very undesirable car- 
riers. Western roads find that they are 
able to get only 125 days actual earning 
service out of a stock car during each 365 
days. In other words, taking an average of 
the entire year a stock car earns money 
only one day out of three. 

The new car wbich is available for coal 
and ore has its floor made in 12 sec- 
tions which are hinged to center sills of 
6 by 10 in. timber. By means of hand 
wheels three floor sections at a time can 
be lowered, as shown in the illustration, 
allowing the contents to empty by gravity. 




This enables the unloading of the car on 
either side, or both. The car is otherwise 
of usual construction, and is 36 ft. long in- 
side and 9 ft. wide. 

■» » » 

KITS FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE 
HOLDERS 



An ingenious photographer who had some 
small plates to work with, but only large 
holders and no kits made some kits for 
himself. An amateur may do the same by 
following the instructions below: 

Cut out pieces of thin, stiff cardboard 
4 1-16 in. wide by 5 in. long. The 1-16 in. 
is allowed for variation in the size of plates. 
From pasteboard of about the average thick- 
ness of the plate, cut for each kit two pieces 
% in. wide and 5 in. long and one piece 
% in. wide and 3^4 in. long, and glue them 



4'/,e 



to 



x 

'-S? 

bJ 
-U 

UJ 

0. 



CourteBy N. C. D. C. Co. 

Floor Open for Dumping 



| PIECE %X3V 

PIECE%X5 

Home=Made Plate Holder 

on the large piece of thin board in the 
arrangement shown in the illustration. 

To hold the plate in place, cut out for 
each kit two pieces of the stiff thin board 
7-16 in. wide and 4% in. long. Glue these 
on in the positions indicated by the dotted 
lines, to extend over the edges of the plate. 
Slide the plate in from the open end of the 
kit. 

To. fasten the pasteboards firmly together, 
says the Photographic Times, brush the sur- 
faces with good hot glue and set under 
pressure for about 24 hours. A couple of 
books or a stack of plates will give sunl 
oient pressure for the purpose. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 283 

NOVEL HIGH SPEED LOCOMOTIVE 




A High Speed "Wind Splitter"== Made in Germany 



A German high speed, compound loco- 
motive with superheater, of unusual appear- 
ance, has been built in Munich, for the 
Pfalzischen Eisenbahnen. The weight would 
be considered light in this country being 74 
tons. 



To deflect the air at high speeds the 
front is made cone shape, and the cab is 
also pointed in a V-shape. A steam pressure 
of 240 lbs. is carried. The tender loaded, 
weighs 47 tons. Several of these engines 
will be put in service. 



WINTER ROOF GARDENS 



Winter gardens on the flat roofs of city 
houses promise to become popular and nu- 
merous. A very satisfactory sun parlor can 
be built on the ordinary roof for $200 for a 
room 15 ft. by 20 ft. Concerns which sell 
greenhouse supplies will supply the iron 
framework for the roof, and ordinary win- 
dow glass is cheaper than plate and does 
not break as easily. The glass roof may be 
the single slant like the roof of a "lean-to" 
or the peak roof, as desired. The roof-sash 
should be double. The House Beautiful 
says: "The upright posts of the garden 
should be made of pine 4x5 in. and 10 ft.. 
high. These should be firmly attached to 
the roof beams by means of L-shaped iron 
braces and then by supports of wood reach- 
ing 3 ft. up from the floor. These posts of 
wood should be placed every 5 ft. apart, 
which would make three in front and back 
and four on the two sides. When placed in 
position the side boards should be nailed 
on to hold them together. Six-inch plank- 
ing should be used for this, making an in- 
side and outside wall with an air space 
between. The flooring should be double. 
The first should be laid with ordinary 6 or 
10-in. spruce boards laid diagonally. This 
flooring should be laid on beams placed 
across the roof arid nailed to each wooden 



upright post. The top floor of 2 or 3-in. 
pine or hard wood should be laid over this 
rough flooring when the roof is enclosed." 

Heating apparatus, shades and other in- 
terior furnishings need not exceed $100, 
making the entire cost within $300, and less 
where one can do part of the work himself. 
Plants may be arranged in pots around the 
room and on tables, leaving the center of 
the room for rug and chairs, or greenhouse 
benches can be placed where desired and 
a greater variety of plants raised. 

In many cases a good part or all of the 
heat can be secured from the house, but a 
heater should be provided for extremely 
cold weather. 

If the occupants do not care for flowers 
and plants, the sun parlor provides an ideal 
place for physical exercise in the warm, 
health-giving sunshine, and is the next best 
thing to summer weather or a trip to Cali- 
fornia during the snow season. The sun 
parlor would pay for itself, in some families, 
in one or two winters, in doctor's bills saved, 
to say nothing of the pleasure it affords. 

Try a sun bath. 

♦ » » 

A New Jersey mayor used the city steam 
roller to pull down a bridge which a street 
railway had built without legal authority- 



284 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



8,000=HP. ELECTRIC MOTOR== 
LARGEST EVER BUILT 



FRANCE EQUIPPED FOR AERIAL 
WARFARE 



The largest electric motor ever built was 
recently made in Cincinnati and is now in 




Courte y Allis-Chalmeri. 

8,000=Hp. Synchronous Motor 

operation at Shawinigan Falls, Quebec. The 
machine is a synchronous motor of 8,000 
horsepower and is rated at 5,750 kw. at 300 
revolutions per minute. 



NEW GASOLINE ROAD ROLLER 



"Just look at that steam roller running 
by means of a gasoline motor," was the un- 
conscious remark of a bystander, whose 
long acquaintance with road rollers oper- 
ated by steam had served to fix the name 
in his mind. 

However, that is what is happening to 




Gasoline Road Roller 

the steam roller; the gasoline roller is rap- 
idly taking its place in England and Europe. 
The same power and ease of control are 
found in the new departure while the an- 
noyance of smoke and escaping steam are 
absent. 



Remarkable results have been achieved in 
France with the Lebaudy steerable war- 
balloon which was recently put to the most 
severe tests to ascertain its practicability. 
The balloon has a 40-hp. motor and its en- 
velope consists of two thicknesses of silk, 
joined with a double coating of liquid rub- 
ber. It was used under various conditions of 
the weather, without a hitch in its opera- 
tion. It rose easily to a height of 1,500 ft. 
and during the experiments it was found 
that with four persons on board the balloon 
could maintain a speed of from 20 to 25 
miles an hour; that it could remain in the 
air at least six hours and during that time 
could travel 124 miles without alighting. 

At a height of 130 ft. 50 per cent of the 
aerial torpedoes dropped from the balloon 
struck a flat target 82 ft. square and rifle 
bullets striking the balloon had no effect 
whatever. Where the envelope was perfor- 
ated it closed up immediately so that little 
or no gas could escape. It is stated that it 
would require 200 effective bullets to disable 
the machine and that even then its high 
speed would probably enable it to reach a 
point of safety before collapsing. 

Attacks were made on the balloon by 
artillery mounted on motor cars running at 
about the same speed, and with the balloon 
at an altitude of 650 ft. it was almost im- 
possible to hit it. Observations made from 
the balloon were telegraphed to the earth. 
The French minister of war, M. Berteaux, 
rode on the war balloon and directed the 
experiments. 

France is, in advance of every other na- 
tion in experiments of this nature. 



THE YEAR ON THE GREAT LAKES 



The furious storms of the past few weeks 
on the great lakes have proved a surprise to 
ship builders in the losses of big steel ves- 
sels. When the fresh water mammoths 
were launched it was predicted they could 
Aveather any sea. The test has not proved 
them to be more immune than the smaller 
craft which preceded them. The death roll 
for 1905 is 23 5 sailors lost against 49 the 
year before. Of all the millions of passen- 
gers carried only two were drowned. Ma- 
rine men have believed that with the new 
steel ships lake navigation was the safest 
of all occupations; the three great storms 
have entirely disproved this claim. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 285 

A SEARCHLIGHT ARCHWAY 




When the British vessel "Renown," on which the Prince and Princess of Wales sailed for their Indian 
our, passed through the Mediterranean Squadron near the Straits of Messina, the big war vessels lined up 
on either side and, turning their searchlights to meet each other in the sky, created an archway of light 
through which the "Renown" passed. The scene was spectacular in the extreme. Our illustration is by 
courtesy of the Illustrated London News. 



GASOLINE CAR DELIVERS PAPERS HOW CRE050TE OIL IS SHIPPED 



A remarkable record has been made with a 
gasoline car which makes the early morning 
delivery cf a daily paper at Dayton, 0. The 
paper has been going out on the electric 
cars of the interurban line to all the towns 
between Dayton and Springfield. The elec- 
tric line recently discontinued its all-night 
service, and to secure prompt delivery the 
paper ordered built a gasoline motor car. 
This car leaves at 3:10 a. m. and travels 
at a high speed without stops, the bundles 
of papers being thrown off as the car passes 
the carriers waiting along the line. One 
stretch of 6 miles of track is travelled in 7 
minutes, and the run to Springfield is made 
in 48 minutes. 

+ * » 

Thirteen thousand motor cars were built 
in Great Britain last year. The increase 
over the past year is phenomenal. 



Creosote oil is the best preservative for 
wood known and has been used and tested 
•as such through a period of 50 years, hence 
the timber department of the Santa Fe, 
which uses millions of gallons of the oil 
annually in the treatment of ties, has 
dropped its experiments with all other pre- 
servatives for wood. 

Formerly the oil was shipped to the plant 
in barrels; now, however, it is shipped in 
bulk in the hull of a vessel with a great 
saving over the old method. Heating coils 
are used in the ship to keep the creosote at 
a certain temperature and prevent it sol- 
idifying, while the pipe line that conveys 
the creosote from the loading racks and 
tanks to the cars has a small steam pipe 
within it to keep the oil warm enough to 
flow freely. Last year one plant consumed 
5,000,000 gallons of the oil. 



286 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



COMPRESSED AIR AND ELECTRIC LIGHT HELPS DIVERS 



Air compressed to a greater pressure 
than that which surrounds a diver when 
he goes under water has heen the prime 
essential to submarine work, and now the 
same force has been harnessed and serves 
as his greatest helper. In fact, the sub- 
marine electric light and pneumatic tools 
are revolutionizing diving work. 

In sea water especially one has not to go 
many feet below the surface before his 
vision is greatly obscured. But with a 
strong electric light which can be carried 
under docks and vessels, and even into the 



nail with a rope attached to his wrist and 
passed over the shoulder with a weight at 
the end. As submarine repairs are almost 
always on heavy materials, such as hard 
wood, metals, or stone, the work has been 
laborious and slow, and consequently very 
expensive. 

Now that pneumatic tools have been added 
to the diver's outfit, his efficiency has been 
immeasurably increased. Every hour a large 
vessel is tied up for repairs means a big 
loss, and in time of war the cost of such 
delays cannot be estimated in dollars. 




Courtesy Electric Marine Mfg. Co. 



Diver Boring Propeller Blade 



hold of a sunken ship the conditions are 
radically improved. In most cases a diver is 
sent down, not for exploration alone, but for 
the purpose of making repairs. This involves 
the use of tools, but a repair job which 
would be easy on shore becomes very diffi- 
cult when attempted under water. In addi- 
tion to the impediment in the free use of 
his arms which his ungainly and heavily 
weighted armor involves, there is the re- 
sistance of the water to every motion he 
makes. The use of a saw is not quite so 
hard, but to hammer or strike a blow is a 
highly exhausting effort. It is as if one 
above water should undertake to drive a 



The application of this system of labor- 
saving tools to submarine work is one of 
the most important advances in many years. 

No less important, and in some cases more 
so, is the submarine electric light which en- 
ables the diver to find the object of his 
search. Especially is this true where he 
must enter the hold of sunken vessels and 
make his way through cabins or over tum- 
bled cargo. The great danger in such work 
is that the air pipe or the life line may 
catch on some obstacle, or even worse, be 
cut in two, in which event his chances of 
coming up alive are very slim. With the 
electric light he can avoid these dangers. 



ENCYCLO D EDIA 



287 



WHERE 



HEAVY OBJECTS WILL 
NOT FALL 



NEW 



Articles dropped into the mouth of the 
famous Red Jacket shaft of the Calumet & 
Hecla mine at Calumet, Mich., never reach 
the bottom. The shaft is the deepest in the 
world, and no matter what the size, shape 
or nature of the object dropped, the result 
is the same. A monkey wrench dropped, ac- 
cidentally, was found lodged against the 
east side of the shaft several hundred feet 
down. A marble tied to a thread was sus- 
pended 12 ft. below the mouth of the shaft 
and when it had ceased moving it was re- 
leased by burning the thread with a lighted 
taper. It, too, sought the east wall at a 



SYSTEM OF HANDLING 
BRICK 



Five Men Can Now Set 50,000 Brick In Kiln 
In One Day 



A new method of filling a brick kiln, which 
saves 70 per cent of the labor formerly re- 
quired is now in successful operation. A 
system of endless belts on which the brick 
are carried from the machine in which they 
are made direct to the hands of the men 
setting the kiln, does the work. 

As the brick leave the press they pass onto 
a horizontal belt conveyor which carries 
them any required distance until opposite 
the kiln where they are to be burned. At 
this point a man removes the brick and 




Courtesy "Brick." 



Main Belt==Transfer Man==Conveyor Entering Kiln 



depth of 500 ft. This is invariably the re- 
sult. Interesting experiments are being 
carried on at this shaft with a view to 
developing data as to the thickness of the 
earth's crust. 

*—* 

The occupation of ship carver is defunct. 
The elaborately carved figurehead once used 
to decorate the stems of vessels has dis- 
appeared from the merchant marine almost 
entirely, and in its place is the straight 
sharp stem built for utility and without 
attempt at beautv. 



Two miles a minute is the mark set for 
the automobile races to be held in the Or- 
mond-Daytona beach tournament. If this is 
accomplished, it will mean a speed of about 
176 ft. a second. 



places them upon a similar belt conveyor 
which moves at right angles to the first. 
This conveyor extends into and through the 
kiln, and as the kiln is filled the conveyor 
is raised from time to time until at the last 
it is close to the top of the kiln as seen in 
the illustration. 

The help required is: 1 man changing 
brick from main belt to kiln belt; 1 man 
to arrange belts, etc.; and 3 brick setters; 
a total of 5 men against 18 previously re- 
quired to do the same amount of work. The 
following description is condensed from 
Brick. 

The brick are set from 6 to 10 high, and 
covered with sheets of paper, one side of 
the kiln being left uncovered to allow the 
vapor of the drying brick to escape. Thin 
sheets of galvanized iron are laid upon 



288 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 







■ ' " ■ '■■' ■' ' " ■ | 






: 








1 - pO£r 


it' ."_ 


"„^^BH 


fe f ! 


"* - '~Z7~~ 






7,"- — 


-ii>>iiSiii :;„-ii. 



WHAT WILL PANAMA CANAL 
EARN? 



First Course Laid 

the paper to hold it down, and for the work- 
men to stand upon later. Hot air from a 
blower is then forced through the brick, 
which are allowed to dry until the next day, 
when another setting is made, the men 
standing on the metal sheets which are re- 
moved as the work progresses. This course 
is continued until the kiln is filled, other 
kilns being carried along at the same time. 
By this method the brick are dried ready 
for burning in the same kiln where they are 
fired, thus avoiding the extra expense of 
providing, and the labor of taking, the 
green brick in and out of the dry-kilns. The 
process is believed by many to mean a revo- 
lution in the manufacture of common and 
paving brick, competition in the manufac- 
ture of which has become very strong. 



The earnings of the Panama canal are 
somewhat problematical for the reason that 
no one knows what will be the created busi- 
ness to and from the Orient and to western 
South America. 

The traffic on the Suez canal increased 
from 765 steamers, 361,467 tons, paying 
$1,800,000 tolls in 1870, to 3,699 steamers 
carrying 10,823,840 tons and paying $20,079,- 
200 tolls in 1901. Charges since January 1, 
1903, have been $1.64 per ton of freight and 
$2 per passenger. Commencing with the 
present month the freight toll is reduced to 
$1.55 per ton. 

The largest cargo ever passing through 
the Suez was the Grosser Kerfuerst with 
13,200 tons cargo, on which the tolls were 
$21,648. 

Assuming the Panama canal to cost $200,- 
000,000, with the bonds drawing 3 per cent, 
and toll rate being, say, $1.50, per ton, there 
would be required 4,000,000 tons yearly 
cargo through the canal to meet the inter- 
est charges alone. As the Suez canal passed 
4,000,000 tons through as long ago as 1881, 
there would seem good prospects that the 
Panama canal should not be many years 
in getting on a good paying basis and being 
able not only to carry itself but retire its 
bonds. 

+ » » 

An American importer of automobiles is 
bringing over some 200-hp. machines which 
will be offered with a guarantee of two 
miles a minute or no sale. 




Conveyor at Top— Kiln Nearly Filled 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



2S9 



ELECTRICITY FOR CANADIAN 
RAILROAD 



Electric locomotives to take the place of 
steam on Canadian railroads nave taken a 
big step in the recommendation of Chair- 
man Smith of the Northern Ontario railway 
commission. One hundred miles of the 
Temiskaming railway will be electrified at 
once. This is the first work of this char- 
acter in Canada, but is expected to be great- 
ly extended. 

♦ « » 



THE HYDROPLANE, OR GLIDING 
BOAT 



A French count has invented a boat with 
an entirely new method of propulsion. The 
same idea that Jias been tried with indiffer- 
ent results in building flying-machines has 
been successfully carried out in the hydro- 
plane, or gliding boat, as the invention is 
called. 

The boat is built with a series of planes 
and is furnished with a 14-h. p. motor. 
Started electrically, it depends for its at- 
tainment in speed on the new principle — the 
use of the planes. As the machine proceeds 
the water impinges against these planes 
more and more until the front of the boat 
is lifted out of the water and only the screw 
is submerged, while the craft goes skim- 
ming along over the surface like a swallow. 



£ 




«.-.. . "iw- J^BflL 




/■"^ISF 


S^^\ ^" 7 ■ 1 


-~~MWi 




/ &i[?MHf\l 




^HkmBtim 




h*HWi% 




■ / nm& 





"The Craft is Lifted Out of the Water" 

The lifting of the boat by the impinging 
water is exactly the same principle as that 
by which a kite rises when dragged against 
the wind. Tts greatest speed is 20 miles an 



hour. Without the planes 30 h. p., would 
be required to attain that speed, but with 
them, the resistance is so slight, that 14 h. p. 
performs the work of 30 h. p. 
« « » 

BRITISH WARSHIPS' SHORE 
TELEPHONE 



It will surprise many people to learn that 
within one hour after the British fleet 
which recently visited this country, dropped 
anchor in New York harbor telephone con- 
nection with the shore had been established. 



; 


: 1 

- ill 






I fas' ' 
if 






■ < f* 




Si !■§' ■ 

. ,; "'v 



Courtesy American Telephone Journal. 

Shore Telephone 

The English officers could talk not only with 
all subscribers of the New York exchange, 
but on long distance wherever that service 
extends throughout the country. The Amer- 
ican Telephone Journal says: "Exceptional 
care was exercised in the installation of the 
wires to protect them as much as possible 
from injury. Cables are used exclusively, 
varying in sizes to meet the different re- 
quirements. The interior insulation is a 
powerful damp resisting compound known 
as Hooper's. A lead sheath envelope is pro- 
vided to protect the cable from mechanical 
injury and over this is a heavy wrapping 
of jute. Terminal boxes are provided for all 
connecting joints and these are fitted with 
water-tight cases." 

The telephone service on a British ship of 
war is very complete; the instruments used 
are known as naval telephones and made 
expressly for that purpose. All parts and 
officers of the ship are connected. A gun 
captain without even taking his eyes from 
the sights or moving in his bicycle-like, sad- 
dle seat, can talk with the conning tower. 
Telephone connection is also maintained 
with the wireless telegraph room, which is 
guarded with the greatest possible secrecy. 



290 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



BUCKET HOLDS 17 TONS OF 
WATER 



ENGINEER SKEEVERS' 
STRATION 



DEMON- 



And Raises 550 Ft. Per Minute==Requires 610 Hp. 



The old oaken bucket would not recognize 
itself if "placed alongside its latest big broth- 
er which is delivering 4,000 gallons, weigh- 
ing 17 tons, per minute. This unusual con- 
struction has been installed at the hard coal 




Delivers 4.000 Gallons Per Minute 

mine of an eastern railroad. Two buckets 
are used; one coming up as the other goes 
down. Each bucket is 6 ft. in diameter 
and 19 ft. high. Two lift gates are placed 
at the bottom of the bucket which open up- 
ward on entering the water ^nd close the 
instant the bucket begins to lift. 

One bucket with its 2-in. steel cable and 
contents of water weighs 27 tons. This 
great weight goes soaring skyward a dis- 
tance of 550 ft. at the rate of 10. ft. per 
second, requiring 610 hp. 

On reaching the surface an automatic 
device opens the bucket and the water 
rushes out in two directions into great 
troughs, forming a good sized stream. 
Night and day with the regularity of a pen- 
dulum these great steel twin tanks make 
their ceaseless journeys down into the earth, 
for the supply is apparently inexhaustible 
and any delay would soon flood the mine. 
The hoisting drums are driven by means of 
an electric motor. 



[From Locomotive Engineering.] 
Jim Skeevers runs a freight engine on a 
small road. He takes great pride in her 
tidy appearance and his coal and oil record 
is the best on the division. His fireman be- 
came weary of so much wiping and being 
called a chump by the other firemen, so 
one day he didn't wipe the dust off her. 

When Skeevers got to the engine he put 
his siege-can in the box, got out his over- 
clothes, put them on, and started around 
with the long can, Billy sat on his seat and 
smoked a cob pipe. Skeevers got up on the 
deck, wiped off his can, and remarked 
rather hintfully: 

"Forgot to dust her off this time, didn't 
ye, Bill?" 

"No," said Bill, "I got sick of being guyed 
by the rest of the gang, and called names, 
and bein' accused of trying to make firemen 
do more work, and cleaning." 

"Billy," said Skeevers, "it's all right; don't 
blame you at all. It takes a long time to 
find out that you know your own business 
best. Now, haven't you often heard it from 
all quarters that we had the best-looking 
engine on the road? Yes, 'course you have. 
Don't she run lightest on coal and on oil? 
Never was beat. Do you have to wipe a 
dose off her once a year because she was 
too full of water? No; because we are 
careful and take pains in our work. We 
may be suckers, but it's a good deal of sat- 
isfaction for me to know we're doin' our 
work about right— near as we can, anyhow. 
But it's wrong, I guess, Billy, dead wrong, 
after all. So let's do as the rest do; you 
fire and clean just as the other boys do, 
and I'll run just as the other runners do; 
there's no use in bein' odd." 

Billy had expected a row with Skeevers, 
and felt quite relieved that he took to the 
change so good naturedly, and in a few 
minutes both were busy, as they pulled out 
with a big train. 

Skeevers jammed the injector on full just 
as they started, and Billy had a hard half- 
hour's work bringing his green fire up, with 
the pressure down 20 lb.; he was tired and 
sweaty when the engine commenced to 
churn water through her stack, plastering 
the front windows with dope. Skeevers 
jerked his head inside the window, smiled, 
said he forgot it, shut off the injector, and 
eased off the throttle, then she commenced 
to howl and Billy opened the door. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



291 



Skeevers was working her down a notch 
further than usual, and it told on the coal 
pile, and Billy remarked that it was an 
awful hard pulling train, by way of calling 
Skeevers' attention to it, hut Skeevers 
agreed that the train did pull hard. 

Skeevers forgot to put the injector on 
again till the water was down to one gauge, 
then he acted startled, and put it on full. 
The fire was low, and Bill had another fight. 
This was repeated all day, and each time 
the coal got further and further away. 

Half-way over the division they took 150 
bushels of coal, where they never took more 
than 100. 

Skeevers kept good-natured. Bill was 
mad. 

"I think you're doin' this a-purpose," said 
Bill, at last. 

"Doin' what?" asked Skeevers, as inno- 
cent as a child. 

"Why pounding this engine so hard, and 



down to go out, the "Mary Ann" was wiped 
up, her front end black, and Billy was 
whistling "Annie Rooney" and spitting on 
the side windows to make the whiting take 
hold. 

"Skeevers," said he, "I'd a good deal 
rather put in half an hour a trip cleaning 
than to shovel coal against that extra notch 
and an injector that 'forgits.' Just run 
her like you used to, Skeevers, and I'll keep 
her tidy." 



MOVING THE COTTON CROP 



The transportation facilities of 'the South 
for the past two months have been taxed 
to their utmost moving the great cotton 
crop. The illustration shows a Mississippi 
river steamer about to land at Memphis 
with 4,000 bales on board. Memphis handles 
700,000 bales valued at $30,000,000 an- 
nually. 




Courtesy Valve n orld. 



Loaded to the Limit=-4,000 Bales 



workin' water, startin' out in the corner, 
wide open, and pullin' my fire all to pieces." 

"Is there any other engine on this road 
that don't burn more than six tons of coal 
over this division?" asked Skeevers. 

"No; but she never burnt but four and 
a half and five before," said Billy. 

"Yes, but that was when we was both 
careful and worked together," said Skeevers, 
as he prepared to get off at the end of the 
run; "but none of the rest of the engineers 
are careful about coal; what's the use of 
me being? And when a man works as hard 
as you have today he would be a fool to 
put in an extra hour cleaning and fussing 
around; we get just as much money when 
we don't as when we do. Good night, 
Billy." 

The next morning when Skeevers came 



HORIZONTAL PROPELLER SHAFT 
FOR GASOLINE LAUNCH 



A somewhat unusual method of driving 
the screw of a racing gasoline launch has 
been adopted in the construction of the De 
Dietrich auto-boat. The hull changes from 
a fish-body shape forward to a flat bottom 
hull from amidship to stern. In order to 
get the screw down into solid water and give 
the propeller a true vertical plane, the shaft 
is hung from a frame and driven with a 
chain drive. 



The authorities at Birmingham, Eng., have 
stopped the quarter-hour chimes on the big 
town clock between the hours of 7:30 p. m. 
and 5 a. m., on account of disturbing sick 
people. 



292 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



SEWER RUNS OVER A RIVER 



Unusual and Interesting Features in Sewer Con= 
struction in New Jersey 



A sewer while a necessary thing is us- 
ually an uninteresting one. A sewer to 
drain Newark and six other places covering 





.»*—■' 


: ; : -V-"- -". V ';.•■:., 


•, 


*^x*f^ 














fit 


; wS 


Rix^l 


1' 'l^H 








uy|jiiii 




m^H 




* ■ • 





Tunneling in Quicksand 

an area of 66 sq. mi. recently completed, 
affords some novel features. Part of the 
construction was through quicksand, satu- 
rated with water, along a river course. 
This section was after many failures com- 
pleted by using compressed air to hold the 
water hack while the men worked. 

At another point the line was laid on the 
surface across a field where driven wells 
furnish the water supply for the city of 
Elizabeth. This was accomplished by using 
iron pipes laid on concrete base. 

One crossing of a small river was made 




in three steel pipes suspended from steel 
girders resting on concrete piers. Another 
river crossing was on Y-shaped steel frames 
set in concrete piers. The outlet of the 
sewer is at tide water. 



VALUABLE PRODUCTS FROM 
WASTE WOOD 



Oil, Turpentine, Tar and Charcoal Among the 
Many Products to Be Reclaimed 



Valuable wood products are to be re- 
claimed from pine and hemlock slabs, 
stumps, and other waste woods. The De- 
partment of Agriculture is conducting prom- 
ising experiments, and soon there will be 
calls for chemists all over the land in saw- 
mills which now burn slabs and other mill 
waste to get the stuff out of the way. Na- 
ture has been so lavish in this country that 
Americans are the most extravagant and 
wasteful people on the face of the earth. 
We are suddenly waking up to find our for- 
ests almost gone, and from this time for- 
ward efforts must be made to utilize a tree 
as completely as a packer does a beef or 
hog. 

The Forest Service outlines the plan thus: 
The outfit for a plant with a capacity of 
100 cords of wood every 36 hours, which 
is • as small as can be profitably han- 
dled, consists of a "battery," or two retorts 
holding 5 cords of wood each. These retorts 
are set in brickwork, about 50,000 bricks 
being reqvired for a "battery." In addition 
are needed a coil or condenser of copper, a 
copper still of a capacity of 1,000 gallons, a 
second condenser, sufficient collecting and 
storing tanks, a boiler of not less than 10 
hp„ and pumps to handle the products. All 
piping should be, if possible, of copper, ex- 
cept after the second distillation, and the 
pumps should be brass-lined. 

From such a plant the yield should be ap- 
proximately from 75 to 100 gallons of oil 
or tar per cord, and from 10 to 15 gallons 
of wood turpentine. There are also pro- 
duced about 25 bushels of charcoal. The 
amount of products is in direct ratio to the 
resinous constituents in the raw material. 
The value of the products is variable. If 
properly made, the tar should bring the 
average market price of pine tar, and the 
spirits sell for from 15 to 5 cents below the 
market price of spirits of turpentine. 



Exposed Section of Sewer 



TO RAFT FROM THE COLUMBIA TO THE ORIENT 



Ten Million Feet of Lumber ==■ Largest Ever Attempted- 
900 Feet in Length 



The largest raft ever built will attempt 
the longest voyage ever made by a raft. Ten 
million feet of the finest Oregon timber, 
valued at $75,000, will leave the Columbia 
river for China. Monster logs from 100 to 
200 ft. in length are being assembled in 
an exaggerated cigar shape, by means of a 
"cradle,"— a Canadian idea. The cradle looks 
like the skeleton frame- 
work of a great ship. 
The raft extends many 
feet under water and 
arches 10 ft. above. One 
hundred and fifty tons 
of mammoth chain 
binds the mass. One 
main chain extends 
from end to end; from 
this belt chains placed 
at frequent intervals 
extend clear around the 
raft. 

When the raft Is fin- 
ished the cradle separ- 
ates into two parts by 
the removal of key pins, 
and the parts are hauled 
out of the way. An 
immense manila haw- 
ser as large around as 
a man's body will serve 
as the tow rope. Two 
sea-going tugs will tow 
the raft, burning oil 
which will be supplied by an oil ship which 
will accompany the "fleet." 

Such a raft could be constructed nowhere 
else in the world, for in no other country 
can be found the giant trees and the neces- 
sary facilities for forming them into a raft. 
The illustration shows a 700-ft. raft which 
successfully made a trip from the Columbia 




A 700=Foot Raft 



293 



river to San Francisco in ten days. Sev- 
eral previous attempts at ocean rafting 
have met with failure, the rafts going to 
pieces during a storm. The floating logs 
constitute a great danger to navigation, and 
float to great distances. Pieces of one Ore- 
gon raft were found months later thousands 
of miles away on the coasts of Hawaii and 
Mexico. Improvements 
and additional safe- 
guards have since been 
made. The big raft 
is being constructed 
under the superintend- 
ence cf Hugh R. Rob- 
ertson, the father of 
ocean giant log rafting, 
and if this one safely 
makes the voyage of 
over 6,000 miles it is 
expected to net a profit 
of $50,000 or mor2. 

The logs composing 
the raft will be used 
for spars and piling. 
In hoisting them into 
the cradle, they are 
lifted one by one by a 
derrick operated by a 
hoisting engine, each 
log being left in the 
exact position it is to 
occupy on the long voy- 
age. A daring logger rides every log on 
its seesaw course through the air, guiding 
its descent. 

The enterprise is looked upon as venture- 
some in the extreme, though the builders 
are sanguine of success. The cost of build- 
ing the raft is enormous, the cradle alone 
costing thousands of dollars. 



294 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



NEW METHOD OF LOADING LOCO- 
MOTIVES 



SHIPS' DECKS OF SAWDUST AND 
STEEL 



Character of Load Determines Number of Cars in 
Train 



A new method of determining what is a 
fair load for any of its freight locomotives, 
is being tried by the Illinois Central rail- 
road. Tests have shown that a ton of light 




Locomotive Tonnage Computer 

loaded cars has almost double the drawbar 
pull of a ton of heavy cars. For instance, 
the Railway Age says, the "pull for a 10-ton 
car is given as 10.8 lbs. per ton, while for a 
75-ton car it is 5.7 pounds per ton. This re- 
sults in the condition that ( the engine may 
haul, say, 2,500 tons when in 35 cars, but if 
in 60 cars the same engine may haul but 
2,000 tons, this figure being obtained by al- 
lowing an arbitrary of five tons additional 
per empty car. In addition to the feature 
of train resistance mentioned, the draw-bar 
pull also is affected by the make-up of the 
train, that is, with the heavily loaded cars 
at the rear the pull will be greater, and one 
trunk line, after tests, has placed the resist- 
ance at 10 per cent." 

To estimate the load in a train, a machine 
something like a cash register has been 
constructed. The various keys register the 
draw-bar pull of the cars and various kinds 
of freight which is registered from the way 
bills. In this way a fair average load for 
the locomotive to be used is determined. 
There is a great difference in coal consump- 
tion between a train loaded moderately and 
extremely heavy trains. 



To supply props for coal, iron, gold, sil- 
ver and other mines of this country, as the 
natural support is removed from their roofs, 
and for other mine purposes, requires 400,- 
000,000 cubic feet of timber a year. 



Steel decks with a layer of a paste, made 
of sawdust and certain oils, laid upon them 
are being used as a substitute for wood decks 
on many ships. The layer of paste is about 
1% in. thick, is leveled and will take a polish 
if desired. This layer is somewhat elastic 
and adheres closely to the steel. It is water- 
tight and durable. To repair, it is easy to 
cut the paste out and renew it, and the ex- 
pense is small. The paste is manufactured 
and sold under several brands. 



TWELVE-INCH HOLLOW BLOCK 
SUPPORTS lOOjOOO POUNDS 



' A unique demonstration of the surprising 
strength of concrete hollow block construc- 
tion was made at St. Louis. A column 6 ft. 
square and 20 ft. high having an interior 
space 4 ft. square, was built of hollow 
block. The column is supported on a 12- 



' WHAT IS jf I 



FStllNBAMBRICKCOHSWHCO 




WZ*:, 



Strength of Concrete Hollow Block Construction 

in. wall of hollow-block. The space within 
the column is filled with dry sand weigh- 
ing 100,000 lbs. 






ENCYCLOPEDIA 



295 



A TOWER OF LIGHT 



Radiance from 25-000 Electric Lights Creates a 

Modern Wonder Current Costs 

$500 a Night 




The white radiance from 25,000 electric 
light bulbs outlining the graceful architec- 
ture of the electric tower and arcade at the 
White City, Chicago, during the past sum- 
mer, created, to the delight of marveling 
thousands, one of the great electrical won- 
ders of the world. On the tower alone 
16,000 lights were used, and the cost of 
lighting the amusement resort for a single 
night was, approximately, $500. In all, the 
equivalent of 125 ; 000 lights is received from 
the power company and nearly all this 
power is used for illumination purposes. 

A modern converting substation is lo- 
cated at the east end of the tower arcade 
and has a continuous capacity of over 4,000 
hp., which can be increased to 6,000 hp. in 
an emergency. 

The illustration is from a night photo- 
graph of the beautiful tower, and shows 
how lavishly and with what gratifying ef- 
fect the myriad lights are usedi 
•»♦♦■ 

Two slender wires running through a 
linen tape line, crossed a live wire and elec- 
trocuted one lineman at the top of a tele- 
phone pole and another standing on the 
ground, at Minneapolis. Both were killed 
instantly. 



eey the Chicago Ediaoa Co. 



296 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



TELEPHONE LINEMAN IN ARIZONA 
WHO "SHOT UP THE TROUBLE" 



"I reckon I shot up that trouble some," 
was what "Slim" said when he returned to' 
camp about nine o'clock one night. 

The government long distance telephone 
line had just been completed under the most 
difficult engineering conditions from the Ari- 
zona Dam to Tonto Basin and Upper Dam, to 
connect the several construction camps. 
Geo. Bond Ellison, electrical engineer, re- 
lates the characteristic incident in the Jour- 
nal of Electricity. 

The line after completion was remarkably 




Land of Rattlesnakes, Tarantulas and Scorpions 

quiet and efficient in transmission and re- 
mained so for a week or ten days. At the 
end of that time the engineer rode into 
headquarters camp and was asked what 
had gone wrong? They could not get the 
Arizona Dam. There was an awful buzzing 
and rattling, and it had been so for twenty- 
four hours. It was 0. K. on the Upper Dam 
section. The trouble was down the river; 
the engineer tested several times, and each 
time the rattling was seemingly louder. Pin- 
ally the line rider was called in and told to 
hike down the trail and clear the trouble. 
The line rider was known as "Slim," a 
long, lean Arizonian, preternaturally solemn, 
picturesque and characteristic in speecb. In 



three or four hours the trouble cleared up 
and "Slim" was looked for to explain the 
cause. About nine o'clock that night "Slim" 
came gangling into the engineer's tent and 
folded himself up on a box and carefully 
rolled a cigarette; cocking his eye up at the 
engineer, he cautiously delivered himself. 

"I reckon I shot up thet trouble some." 

He was asked to explain. 

"Wa-al, yu see, I hiked down the trail fer 
about twenty miles and didn't find nuthin', 
everything clear. Sa-ay, yu know where the 
line goes down in the holler at Fish Creek? 
I got round that pint of rock and looked 
down at thet pole. Yu know it's a trans- 
persition! There was a big, red-eyed, long- 
horned steer just a hellerin' and pawin' up 
the ground all around and kinder lookin' up. 
I rid closter to get wise and dang my but- 
tons! ef there wan't a six foot rattler, head 
end wound three times around one wire and 
tail end three times round t'other and the 
little ole rattlers stickin' right up. Wa-al, I 
jist naterally figgered it out this here way, 
that steer had caught Mr. Rattler and histed 
him up on the wires and was a waitin' fur 
him to fall off. Mr. Battler was jest nater- 
ally scared plumb stiff and every time we 
took down the receiver and rung up we'd 
shoot the juice through him and he was 
hanging' there jist rattlin' like h— 1 for 
help!" 

"Slim" went on to say that he was so im- 
pressed by the reptile's intelligence that 
he had killed the steer and turned the snake 
loose in the hills. 

* * » 

STEAM ROLLER SAVES COLD 
STORAGE 



An accident to the boilers occurred in a 
large cold storage plant which could not be 
repaired under several days. The house was 
filled with perishable goods for which the 
cold storage company was responsible. The 
owners saw visions of thousands of dollars 
lost unless something could be done. The 
engineer finally thought of two steam rollers 
working on a road a few miles away. The 
rollers were secured, hurried to the plant, 
and steam connection made with the circu- 
lating pumps. By running the two boilers 
at their utmost capacity the temperature in 
the cold -rooms was kept below the danger 
point and the contents were saved. 
♦<-♦> 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



297 



BLASTING BY ELECTRICITY 



Once Perilous Work Now Perfectly Safe 



The firing of a blast, whether a single 
charge containing a few pounds of black 
powder, or a series numbering scores and 
aggregating tons of dyna- 
mite and other powerful ex- 
plosives, is now a matter of 
absolute certainty and pre- 
cision, and need not involve 
the slightest risk if properly 
managed. 

In the old days the firing 
of a blast was an exciting 
and dangerous event. When 
the charge had been care- 
fully rammed down, and the 
mass of timbers piled on 
top, the workmen hurried 
to places of safety, leaving 
the most courageous one to 
light the piece of snaky fuse 
which extended out from 
beneath the pile. These 
fuses, even when made with 
great care, were very uncer- 
tain things. Frequently 
they burned with unex- 
pected rapidity, causing an explosion be- 
fore the blaster had time to escape. At oth- 
er times they burned so slowly it was 
thought the fuse had gone out, and a 




Setting Off the Blast 



second attempt to light it would be made 
just at the fatal moment. 
Happily these accidents are now of rare 
occurrence, for an electrical 
exploder, which can be car- 
ried in the hand, two long 
wires, and the electric fuse 
have reduced the problem 
to a mathematical certayity. 
The electric fuse is a car- 
tridge of paper or brass 
filled with powder into 
which two wires are car- 
ried, the ends being tipped 
with platinum and securely 
separated by a short gap. 
The Avires are laid upon the 
ground to whatever dis- 
tance safety demands, 
where, when all is ready, 
they are fastened to the 
two brass binding posts of 
the exploder. . There are 
several types of exploders, 
but nearly all operate on 
the same principle. With- 
in the exploder is a magneto which gener- 
ates an electric current by the pushing down 
of the handle. At the instant the handle is 
lowered the current darts along the wires, 




Details of the Electrical Exploder 



298 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



and coming to the gap in the fuse jumps 
across, producing a spark or small arc, which 
ignites the explosive in the fuse, and this in 
turn fires the blast. 

By using a larger number of wires, all 
connected to the same exploder,, a large 
number of blasts can be fired at the same 
instant, or may be made to follow in regu- 
lar succession. In this case time fuses for 
"delayed action" are employed, the length 
of the fuse determining the interval before 
explosion. The oae operation of the ex- 



ploder works them all, the time fuse being 
lighted in this event instead of the charge 
direct. 

The expense of an outfit is not great; 
the fuses ranging from two cents to fifteen 
cents each, according to size and strength; 
while the exploders cost from $15 for a 
6-hole exploder up to $50 for a 50-hole in- 
strument. Small exploders are also made 
capable of firing up to four holes; these 
are worked by pulling a string and have 
been found most satisfactory. 



PORTABLE SOUP TUREENS 

Hot soup venders have taken the place 
of the ice-cream peddlers on the streets of 
London now that cold weather has come. 





■-;'-"• ^Bg ^^r "jJ0 


-fa: 

f : 


M 


) /^O.BONO.PUBL/rx /j 
\[ ;.: PEOPLE'S ) ) 
^K<>rD!Hht.R.ASS^/ \ 


8§ 




1 




BR j'j 1 


fe 


1 ;_ 


_ 


>' : -.. -- ' C-. 


ts&.A*a* 


- 



A Dish of Soup for Two Cents 

The barrows that served for ice-cream in 
the summer have been turned into portable 
soup tureens. The soup is supplied by an 
association and is sold with bread at a 
penny (2 cents) a head. 



COKE OVEN GAS TO LIGHT 
CHICAGO 



The large portion of Chicago and sub- 
urban towns within a radius of twenty 
miles are to be lighted with gas from the 
great batteries of coke ovens now being 
built in the southern outskirts of the city. 
These ovens will cover fifty acres, and are 
considered the most extensive in the world 
outside of the Connellsville district in 
Pennsylvania. 

For years past thousands of millions of 
feet of gas have been pouring from coke 
ovens wherever operated, wasting an enor- 
mous amount of fuel value, and polluting 
the air. A process for receiving, piping and 
refining these waste gases has been 



devised and is expected to convert a hitherto 
waste of product into a superior article of 
illuminating and heating gas. If the ex- 
perimental plant meets the expectation of 
the engineers, the largest gas plant in the 
world, to cost $3,000,000, will be erected. 
- ♦ « » 

DOUBLE PLATOON SYSTEM IN 

CHICAGO FIRE DE= 

PARTMENT 



The double platoon system is being tried 
with one engine company of the Chicago Fire 
Department. It involves twice the number 
of firemen at a station, one half of whom 
are off duty ten hours each day. The crew; 
on watch are not allowed to go to bed as 
with the single platoon. The men do not 
seem to like the experiment thus far, and 
want to return to the former system. One 
of the difficulties is in changing the shift 
during the progress of a fire. 

*-»-*• 

MOTOR BUS FOR BERLIN 



A system of motor omnibuses has been 
put in operation in Berlin, a city where mo- 
tor cars have long been used extensively. 
These cars are driven by a 24 h. p., gasoline 
motor, seat 16 passengers inside and 14 on 
top. Illustration by courtesy of the Motor 
Way. 




B"-'in Motor Bus 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 299 

MOST POWERFUL LOCOMOTIVE IN THE WORLD 




Will a Larger One Ever Be Built? 



The most powerful locomotive, and the 
heaviest switch engine in the world, was 
recently turned out by the Schenectady 
works of the American Locomotive Co., for 
the the Lake Shore R. R. It is what is 
known as a "Hump" engine, being used to 
haul heavy trains over summits in gravity 
switch yards. This powerful mass weighs 
135 tons, without tender, all the weight 



resting on the ten drivers, which are 52 in 
in diameter. The cylinders are 24 in. with 
28-in. stroke. Other figures are: Diameter 
of boiler, 80 in.; steam pressure, 210 lbs. 
55 sq. ft. grate area; heating surface, tubes 
4,422 sq. ft.; fire box, 73 in. wide, 108 in 
long: length engine and tender, 54% ft.; 
Aveight of tender, loaded, 75 tons; tank 
capacity, 8,000 gal. 



ARMY AUTOMOBILE SEARCHLIGHT 




To Illuminate "Darkest Africa" 



A traveling electric light plant is the ma- 
chine illustrated. It was built in England 
for the army service and will be sent to 
Egypt. The car has a 20 h. p. motor, and 
specially wide wheels with metal sides to 



prevent sand getting between the spokes. 
The Automobile says: "The trailer is fitted 
with electric equipment of dynamos and 
searchlight, provision being made so that 
the dynamo can be driven from the car." 



300 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



HOW DOES A GAS PRODUCER WORK? 



By W. H. Patton, Gas Engineer, Chicago Branch Otto Gas Engine Works, 




W. H. PATTON. 



Producer gas is a gas made chiefly for 
power and heating, and takes the place 
of gasoline. The economy of producer gas 
will be better understood by a brief refer- 
ence to the heat unit, commonly expressed 
as British Thermal Unit, and written B. T. 
U. A heat unit is that amount of fuel that 
is necessary to raise the temperature of one 
pound of water, say at 60 degrees Fahren- 
heit, one degree. Or- 
dinary coal has a 
heating value, rang- 
ing from 10,000 to 14,- 
000 heat units per lb. 
The heating value of 
fuel required to de- 
velop one brake h. p. 
for one hour in a 
steam engine, varies 
from 16,000 degrees 
up to, and over, 100,- 
000 degrees, gov- 
erned by the charac- 
ter of engine, boil- 
ers, etc. The lowest consumption men- 
tioned, is attained in but few instances, and 
then only with triple and quadruple expan- 
sion engines, and boilers perfectly free from 
scale inside, tubes thoroughly free from soot 
and boilers and pipes covered to prevent 
radiation of heat, not a practical every 
day proposition; while the gas engine is 
guaranteed to produce one brake h. p. for 
one hour on a consumption of fuel ranging 
from 9,000 to 12,000 heat units. 

This is the condition to-day, which in the 
minds of leading engineers will in a few 
years eliminate the steam engine as a power 
factor. This condition has been reached in 
parts of Europe to a very considerable ex- 
tent; for instance the Krupp Iron Works, 
of Germany, the largest iron works in the 
world, using some 68,000 h. p. are operated 
almost entirely with gas engines. 

Articles of more or less length appearing 
in various periodicals of the day, contain- 
ing statements of the wonderful economy, 
the absence of smoke, danger from fire and 
explosion, etc., with producer gas engines, 
have aroused an interest in the minds of the 
ordinary reader, especially in the minds of 
those mechanically inclined, as to what is a 
gas producer? 
The ordinary stove of the base burning 



type, is a good illustration of the gas pro- 
ducer. Start a fire in it, fill the magazine 
at the top with coal, and after your fife 
gets to burning in good shape, tightly close 
the damper in the pipe, leading from the 
stove to the outer air, and if there are any 
leaky joints in your stove, you will have a 
first-class gas producer in active operation, 
right in your room. 

However the gas producer for furnishing 
gas in your engine is a little more elabor- 
ate. By referring to the accompanying cut, 
it will be s % een that a producer plant has the 
following parts; a producer or generator, 
smoke or vent pipe, evaporator, scrubber 
and gas receiver. The producer is an ordin- 
ary cylindrical stove, lined with fire brick 
in which the coal burns. The evaporator, 
containing water, is placed inside of the 
steel shell of the producer (see cut) in con- 
tact with the fire and generates steam 
which is conducted through a pipe and dis- 
charged beneath the grate, mixing with air 
as it is drawn up into the fire. 

The heat of the fire decomposes this 
steam into its constituent parts of oxygen 
and hydrogen. The hydrogen increases the 
heating value of the fuel. 20 to 25 heat units 
per foot. The gas made from the coal, has 
a heating value of about 120 heat units per 
foot. Thus it will be seen that the hydro- 
gen raises the heat value in proportion, be- 
sides being a perfectly clean gas, and mak- 
ing the gas more combustible and quicker 
in its action. 

The second large vessel is what is known 
as the scrubber. This is a boiler iron cyl- 
inder filled with coke. The gas from the 
producer enters this scrubber at the bottom, 
passing upward to the pipe leading to the 
gas receiver and engine. 

At the top of this scrubber, a water pipe 
enters and water is sprayed on top of the 
coke, and runs down through the coke to 
the trap at the bottom. This accomplishes 
two purposes, namely, cooling the hot gas, 
and washing out the dust, ashes and other 
impurities, which are drawn through the 
producer, by the suction of the engine. The 
gas receiver is simply a small storage tank 
for gas. 

Operation: Starting the producer is ac- 
complished in the following way; a fire is 
kindled on the grate, in just the same 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



301 



manner that you would start a fire in an or- 
dinary anthracite base burner. The vent in 
the smoke stack is opened to the outer air. 
This is the same as the damper in the pipe 
of your stove. Your magazine is filled with 
coal, the blower is started, taking from 15 
to 30 minutes the first time that the pro- 
ducer is started, and must be operated until 
•the test flame will burn with a bright blue 
flame. When this condition is reached, the 
valve or damper (shown in the cut by a 
cross in the smoke stack) is closed, the 
blower is stopped and the valve, shown by 
a cross in the pipe over the gas receiver, is 
opened. The engine is then started when 



requires only about one pound of hard coal 
per h. p. hour, when the engine is operating 
at full load, the very small saving in the 
cost of soft coal fuel would not pay for the 
extra expense of a soft coal producer, in- 
stalling and operating the additional puri- 
fiers for engine units of less than 500 to 
1,000 h. p. 

The utility of the producer gas system 
ranges from units of a few horse power up 
to the largest gas engines built, and include 
stationary and marine engines. In fact, 
great 'success has already been attained in 
operating large boats in Germany driven by 
gas engines, using producer gas. 



Ocrahhe)- 
J_ - 




Producer Gas Machine 



the draft for the producer is furnished by 
the suction stroke of the engine. 

When the engine is shut down for the 
night, open the valve or damper in the 
smoke pipe and the natural draft is suffi- 
cient to maintain a fire over night. When 
it is again desired to start the engine, 5 or 
TO minutes blowing is sufficient to put the 
engine in condition, and again start the pro- 
ducer. The fuel used is anthracite pea coal, 
charcoal or coke, iff this type of suction 
producer. 

The question will naturally be asked, why 
not use soft coal which is cheaper? This 
can be done, but requires a much more elab- 
orate installation of scrubbers, purifiers, etc., 
on account of the greater amount of impuri- 
ties contained in this grade of fuel; besides 
requiring more care and time on the part 
of the attendant. As the suction producer 



As an instance of the great economy of 
the system, I might cite a case here in Chi- 
cago which has been in daily successful 
operation for six months past. The power 
was a 30 h. p. gasoline engine running on 
gasoline at a cost of $4.50 per day for fuel. 
As more power was needed, it was decided 
to use a gas engine of 60 h. p., and install 
a producer. The cost for fuel for gas now 
made by the producer from hard coal has 
averaged only 70 cents per day for a 9- 
hour day of the 60 h. p. engine. 
♦ » » 

The big Hamburg-American liner "Ameri- 
ka" was dry-docked and had two coats of 
composition applied to her hull at South- 
ampton, England, recently in the short space 
of 24 hours. Considering the area that had 
to be scrubbed and coated this was con- 
sidered a great feat. 



302 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



AN ELECTRICAL DISINFECTOR 



PROPER METHOD OF DESK 
LIGHTING 



Of all the varied uses to which electricity 
has been applied one of the most unique, as 
also the latest, is to disinfect beds, blankets, 
mattresses, carpets and other similar arti- 
cles. The disinfector is a large metal cham- 
ber 6 ft. wide, 9 ft. long and 7 ft. high, 
which when closed is practically airtight. 
A steel cage, in five sections, is made to ro- 
tate by means of an electric motor. In each 
corner of the chamber extending its entire 




Destroys All Disease Germs 

length, and through the center are rows of 
electric lights of intense power. As the cage 
revolves its contents are treated to a light 
bath, and heated to a temperature of 300 
deg. The impure air is drawn out at one 
end and fresh air admitted under control at 
the other. The Electrical Review, London, 
says: 

The electric disinfector is claimed to con- 
stitute one of the greatest advances in sani- 
tary science and hygiene. The process has 
the effect of destroying completely, without 
use of steam or chemicals, the germs of dis- 
ease, and thoroughly cleaning the articles 
which, under the process, are submitted to 
the simultaneous action of light and heat 
rays. 



The proper method of desk lighting, ac- 
cording to J. R. Cravath, an illuminating en- 
gineer, is as shown in the illustration. He 
says: 

"Badly arranged desk lighting is responsi- 
ble for much trouble with eye-sight. The 
best method of desk lighting is to place the 
light high at the left-hand side of the desk. 
By equipping a lamp with a good reflector 
and pointing it at an angle of about 45 deg. 
to the right, a strong, fairly even illumina- 
tion over the whole desk surface is obtained, 
and the glare of the regular reflector from 
the paper passes off in a direction to cause 
no annoyance. 

"With a reflector, having a smooth white 
or polished reflecting surface, such as the 
ordinary green opal desk shade, polished 
aluminum or white enameled shades, lamps 
with bulbs frosted by the etching process 
should always be used to avoid the. streaks 
which are always present in the light from 




Desk Properly Lighted 

clear' bulb lamps with these shades. These 
streaks are largely eliminated by frosted 
aluminum, prismatic glass, fluted opal, or 
properly corrugated mirror type of reflec- 
tors." 

. — ■♦ » » 

To Keep Contents of Wooden Pails from 
Tasting of the Wood 

Water or anything else for "internal use" kept 
in a wooden pail is apt to taste of the wood. To 
prevent this, says the Practical Carpenter, fill 
the pail with boiling hot water and let stand 
-until the water is cold; then empty the pail and 
wash the inside with a solution of soda in luke- 
warm water, with a little lime added, after which 
scald the pail and rinse carefully. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



303 



THE BATTLESHIP vs. 

THE TORPEDO BOAT 



Shall the nation build battleships or tor- 
pedo boats to protect herself in the future? 
This is the leading problem in the minds 
of the greatest naval engineers of the 
world to-day, and while carefully worked 
out theories and circumscribed experiments 
will determine the question for each navy, 
the demonstration of superiority remains 
with the future. The past, including the 
Japanese-Russian war, has contributed little 
towards solving it. Deep-seated prejudice, 
priding itself, since naval warfare began in 
spectacular armadas in battle array, finds it 



however, not more than an average of ten 
torpedo boats would be destroyed to a bat- 
tleship, it is estimated. 

The torpedo boat carries no armament for 
her protection. What avail would it be be- 
fore the steel-clad, fire-belching monster she 
goes forth to destroy. She is a frail little 
steel craft, crowded with big engines that 
cause her to quiver like a hunted deer and 
send her skimming over the waters at the 
rate of 35 miles an hour. Under cover of 
darkness or fog she goes forth and success 
or failure depends upon getting within firing 




Bridge of U. S. Torpedo Craft 



Copyright, Waldon Fawcett. 



hard to yield up its trust in the noble battle- 
ship; on the other hand, there is a voice 
rising from a million throats proclaiming 
her obsolete, and demanding that progress 
come to its own in the shape of torpedo 
boats. 

Probably the best argument that has been 
advanced for the torpedo boat is one given 
by Hudson Maxim, who declares that 50 tor- 
pedo boats can be built at the cost of one 
battleship, and all manned with fewer 
men than one battleship would require, and 
therefore, if 50 torpedo boats were lost in 
destroying one battleship, the loss to both 
sides would be equal. In actual warfare, 



range of her prey without being discovered. 
The little craft has two terrible betrayers 
which threaten her constantly: The power- 
ful searchlights of the foe and the glow 
from her own funnels venting the smoke 
from her big engines. But if she succeeds 
In getting within 2,000 yards of the enemy 
without being detected and drawing a terri- 
ble rain of shell, the doom of the battleship 
is sealed— one effective torpedo is sufficient 
to sink her; and the wonderful automatic 
action of the torpedo is certain to be effect- 
ive on impact within its range. Nearly 
every one knows the construction of the 
Whitehead torpedo. Its charge of gun-cotton 



304 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Torpedo=Boat Destroyer 



■Whiting," Traveling at Over 35 Miles an Hour, and Just About to Discharge 
Her Bow Torpedo at a Floating Target 



at the head, its flask of highly com- 
pressed air furnishing power to its engines 
and motors, its balance-chamber with 
the wonderful mechanism keeping it just 
at the desired degree of submergence, oper- 
ated by the pressure of the water through 
which the torpedo speeds, its machinery of 
locomotion in the compartment at the 
stern, its spinning propellers and the gyro- 
scope which keeps it true to its course. 
A single torpedo costs from $1,500 to 



$3,000 and those used by the United States 
are in two lengths— 12 and 17 ft. They are 
porpoise-shaped and their greatest diameter 
never exceeds 18 in. A torpedo weighs 
one-half ton. Torpedoes are sent out from 
the manufacturer in five sections, each sec- 
tion containing upwards of 2,000 separate 
pieces, such is the secrecy observed. The 
torpedo is aimed by means of an automatic 
"director" which acts according to the speed 
of the torpedo boat and of the target. The 




Copyright, Waldon F»wcett. 

After Conning=Tower and Gun Platform on a U. S. Torpedo Boat 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



305 




Remarkable Photograph of Torpedo in Plight 



speed of vessels varies, however, and here 
enters the element of uncertainty. Cordite 
or gunpowder is used to fire the torpedo 
from its tube. 

A torpedo-boat costs from $50,000 to $250,- 
000, while our finest battleships cost up- 
wards of $7,500,000 and the tendency is to 
increase the size and, consequently, the cost 
of the latter. The battleship has no safe- 
guard against the torpedo which can tear a 
hole through the heaviest steel plating. If the 
battleship could be rendered torpedo-proof, 
then her supremacy would be established. 
Experiments in this line have been made. 



The fated "Petropavlovsk" had numerous cel- 
lular compartments, constructed to this in- 
tent, but when a torpedo tore a big hole in 
the hull the compartments on that side filled 
with water. Other methods have been tested 
without success and one great obstacle is 
that no nation is willing to sacrifice an ex- 
pensive battleship to such tests. Thus the 
construction of the new battleships proceeds 
with an equipment of submerged torpedo 
tubes and the question remains unsettled. 
England, however, long-headed in affairs of 
this nature, is adding swarms of torpedo 
boats to her powerful array of battleships. 




Torpedo and Firing Tube on a U. S. Torpedo Vessel 



Copyright, Waldon Fawcett. 



300 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




MOTOR CAR SAFEST VEHICLE IN 
LONDON 



The operation of motor cars in London 
is found to cause fewer accidents than any 
of the several kinds of vehicles which use 
the streets of the great metropolis. There 
are, of course, a smaller number of motor 
cars than cabs, for instance, nevertheless 
the comparison is interesting. During the 
past year vans caused injuries in 2,157 cases 
while motor cars are at the bottom of the 
list with only 142 to their account. The 
comparison is graphically set forth in the 
illustration. 

+-*+ 

TELEPHONES IN THE MAINE 
FORESTS 

The dense Maine forests in the vicinity of 
Moosehead lake, primeval in character, with 
trees of giant growth and for vast stretches 
showing no trace of man, are threaded with 
telephone wires and the thousands of mes- 
sages' that hum their way through the for- 
ests daily is sufficient testimony that the 
huntsman, the logger and the fire warden 
would now find these instruments indispens- 
able to their lives there. 

The huge trees form living telephone 
poles, and the porcelain insulators are 
placed on them but a little above man's 
reach, while despite the difficulties and the 
wild surroundings, the linemen make quick 
progress, stringing miles of wires in a week. 
The telephone is particularly useful along 
the west branch of the Penobscot river to 
the men driving logs. The river has a se- 
ries of dams used both to hold the water in 
time of drought and to control the flood and 
a large crew of men is kept at these dams 
at all times. In driving logs down the 
river frequently they jam or pile up in pass- 
ing over rough places in the stream. The 
man at the phone is watching alertly, and 
when the jam is a big one he telephones the 
crew at the dam above to close the gate 
and stop other logs from coming down 
stream until the jam is broken up. Dyna- 
mite is used to break up the jams, and 
when this is accomplished the telephone 
man tells the dam crew to open the dam 
again. 

Before the installation of the telephone 
lines men were stationed along the stream 
at frequent intervals and shouted messages 
down the line. Fire wardens, also, find the 
telephone of great advantage. Powerful 
field glasses and range finders are used to 
locate the fires. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



307 



A PORTABLE TUNNEL 



Built in Sections, Which Are Launched on the Seine Like Ships, Then Floated to 

Position and Sunk 



French engineers are at present engaged 
in building on dry land a huge double tun- 
nel to cross under the Seine and accommo- 
date the trains of line 
No. 4 of the Metro- 
politan undergr o u n d 
railway of Paris. 



This most notable de- 
parture in tunnel 
construction since the 
bore under the Har- 
lem river in New York 
was made is rapidly 
approaching success- 
ful completion. The 
novel method of pro- 
cedure was necessitated 
from the fact that the caissons which are 
to constitute the tunnel must not extend 
above the level of the river bed, in order 
not to impede navigation, and to build them 
in the position they were to occupy, at that 
depth, the work would have had to have 
been carried on from a platform built in 
the water, or else in a water-tight compart- 
ment with exceedingly strong walls. This 
was not practical, and so, through ex- 
pediency, the tunnel was built on the banks 
of the Seine, a shallow harbor in Paris with 
a slight declivity suitable for launching be- 
ing the spot selected for the special plant 
which stands beside a temporary pier. 




Caisson in the Slip 



The first of the caissons has been built 
and sunk. It is 115 ft. long, 29% ft. high 
and 30 ft. wide; in the words of La Nature, 
"An immense metal 
box with a curved 
top." Until ready to 
launch the caisson re- 
mained open, then 
the ends were sealed, 
temporarily, and it was 
run out from the 
slip in which it had 
been built, on rails 
extending for a dis- 
tance under the water 
and supported by 
trestle work. In order 
to make the distance 
the caisson must 
travel on rails as short as possible, the level 
of the Seine was raised 1.3 ft. on the day 
of the launching by a series of parallel 
dams down stream. The caisson, weighing 
approximately 280 tons, was controlled by 
powerful tackle as it moved along the 
greased slides. The descent into the water 
was gradual and without a jar until finally 
the huge steel structure floated lightly as 
a boat. It was then towed to the other 
side of the Seine and moored until the fol- 
lowing day. 

In moving the caisson to the place where 
it was to be sunk, great caution was re- 
quired to keep its top from striking against 




First Section of the Tunnel Launched on the Seine 



308 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



the arches of bridges. Also it was neces- 
sary to diminish the amount of air in it 
by forcing- in water to act as ballast, and 
yet the amount of water must be carefully 
gauged, as the Seine is only about 10% ft. 
deep at that point. 

Arrived at its destination the caisson was 
moored along a palisade of piling placed 
obliquely to the course of the Seine and 
other piles were driven to form a palisade 
on the opposite side. Then the caisson was 
caused to descend and sunk into an excava- 
tion previously made. Later it will be 
lodged securely in place. 

All the other caissons required to make 
the tunnel will be handled in this way and 
sunk end to end, then the temporary wall 
at the extremity of each will be removed 
and the remarkable portable bore will be 
complete. 



AN EASY METHOD OF DRAWING 



ARTIFICIAL TRAILS FOR TRAIN= 
INQ HOUNDS 



In England, where hunting is a popular 
sport, artificial trails are laid to train the 
pack to follow the scent. In laying the trail 
a unique contrivance is used. It consists of 
a wheel, on the rim of which are four buck's 
feet, and having a curious canister, filled 
with the buck's sweat, 
at the axle. As the 
wheel revolves the 
buck's feet make tracks 
on the ground and the 
sweat pecolates from 




Laying the Trail 

the canister, setting up an artificial scent, 
which the hounds follow readily. The illus- 
tration is by courtesy of the Illustrated 
j^ondon News. 



A gas meter which was installed in Lon- 
don in 1859 is still in use. It ought to be an 
exemplary meter for it is in a church. 



A system of drawing which greatly assists 
and facilitates the work is fully described in 
an extremely interesting article in Wood 
Craft. The method involves the use of 
specially ruled paper, the lines, however, 
are not strong as shown in the cuts where 




How a Wrench is Drawn 

they appear heavy in order to be more 
easily understood. When the sheets are used 
for blue printing, the ruling scarcely shows. 
An examination of the illustrations will ex- 
plain the plan. The prepared paper, which 
can be purchased ready for use, is ruled in 







Easy to Draw 

the three isometric directions, instead of 
being ruled in squares like the regular cross 
section paper. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



309 



WATER SUPPLY FOR COUNTRY FLASHING LIGHTS ON TROLLEY 
BUILDINGS WIRES 



A gas engine expert of national reputation 
remarked to the editor of this cyclopedia re- 
cently that in a few years the windmill now 
found on almost every farm would disap- 
pear. He stated that the gas engine, which 
can he depended on to pump water and do 
other work, at the precise moment when the 
service is wanted would eventually replace 
the windmill. 

In this connection, another evolution is 
worthy of note, and that is the reservoir 
for containing the water. Steel tanks placed 
in basements or underground are rapidly 
taking the place of the wooden tower-tanks. 
The reasons for this are concisely stated 
by Wm. Paul Gerhard, a recognized author- 
ity on country water supply. He says: 

Exposed towers must suffer the deteriorat- 
ing effects of the weather, and they also 
must be able to withstand heavy wind pres- 
sures. Wooden tanks when left standing 
empty and exposed to the sun become 
leaky; those intended for winter service 
should always be frost-proof in the best 
manner. Outside tanks are made of wrought 
iron or steel with riveted joints, and such 
tanks are nearly always round in section. 
They cost from 50 to 100 per cent more than 
wooden tanks without having superior ad- 
vantages to offset the larger cost. The rea- 
sons why wooden tanks are more often used 
than steel tanks are that the latter are more 
difficult to erect, they give trouble by rea- 
son of sweating, and they rust soon if the 
•outside paint is not constantly renewed. The 
objection to inside tanks is that their size 
must necessarily be limited, hence they pro- 
vide an insufficient storage of water. 

Pressure Tanks.— This system has many 
sanitary and constructive advantages, pro- 
vides for an excellent Are protection, and 
does away with the use of fire engines. The 
water stored in the underground tanks is 
kept cool, remains pure, and cannot become 
contaminated as in the open tanks. More- 
over, in the case of the underground source 
•of supply, there is no exposure of the water 
to the sun's rays, hence there will be no 
annoying growth of algae. There is also 
no trouble from freezing of the water in the 
Teservoir. In all cases where objection is 
raised to the appearance of an elevated 
tank, or to the heavy additional expense re- 
quired to make it look well, this system is 
well adapted and worth investigation on the 
part of property owners. 



The sight of a trolley car at night causing 
blinding flashes of white and blue lights 
along the trolley wire is one familiar to all 
our readers. These flashes occur at quite 
regular intervals and at the point where the 
wire is suspended. At those points, the wire 
is held by what is called a trolley ear, which 
partially encloses the wire. The wire is 
either clamped tightly or soldered to the ear 
to hold it in place. 

When the groove of the trolley wheel be- 
comes unevenly worn the wheel does not 
make a smooth even contact when passing 
under the ears, and the space between allows 
the current to jump across the small gap and 
in doing so becomes visible, forming an arc 
which appears as a flash because of so short 
duration. This explains why one car will 






Trolley Wheel Contacts 



flash the entire length of the line and the 
one following will emit no flash. The same 
result is also produced when a trolley ear 
becomes worn or bent so it does not evenly 
fit the groove, but the worn trolley wheel is' 
the usual cause of the electrical display. 
Figs. 1 and 2 show a trolley wire fitting 
evenly into the groove of a trolley wheel. 
Figs. 3 and 4 show the uneven connection 
at trolley ears, due to the groove being worn. 

An English lineman, H. Dudgeon, who has 
made a study of overhead construction says 
in the London Electrical Review: 

"I found that the ears seemed to wear ir- 
' respective of the way they were suspended 
—either rigid, span or pull-off— but that the 
wear varied according to the gradient of the 
road, the number of cars using it, and the 
type of ear. On a level road, both ears on 
the same span wear alike, but on a hill those 
on the up line wear worst, and the steeper 
the hill, the more wear on the ears." 



310 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



NOTABLE CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION AT DE= 




The two views are of the same building 
showing the rapid progress made in less than 
two weeks. This structure is a three-story 
manufacturing building 103 ft. by 319 ft., 
built of reinforced concrete and tile— a con- 
struction at once fireproof and durable. Just 
how long buildings of this type will endure 
is not, of course, yet known, but concrete 
engineers claim for them a century or more 
unless torn down. The foundations are con- 
crete, as also the basement floor and the sup- 
porting pillars and cross beams are of rein- 
forced concrete. The partitions and roof are 
of tile. A shell of brick will be used for the 
exterior wall surface. 

Work was commenced September 11, and 
the building was practically completed No- 
vember 15.— Contributed by F. S. Cummings, 
Detroit. 

«» « » 

Gas plants are being constructed in all 
parts of Japan. 



As the Work Appeared on October 12, 
PANAMA CANAL CONSTRUCTION 



By John Barnett. 



Before I left Panama for the United States 
I noticed in the Panama Star & Herald, 13th 
August, another canal plan by Major Cassius 
E. Gillett proposing a 100-ft. level canal, cost- 
ing probably $100,000,000. Much valuable 
time may be spent in considering the various 
propositions, but in the end the decision will 
be to build a sea level canal for the reason 
that it is the best and the cheapest in the 
long run, and should be 250 ft. wide to ac- 
commodate vessels of the near future. 

It can be carried out in about seven years 
by using proper machinery and working 8- 
mile sections, or less, according to hills or 
rock to contend with. House the men and 
feed them, right at the point of work, with 
good substantial food at a fair price. Have 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 311 

TROIT SHOWING PROGRESS MADE IN TEN DAYS 




and as It Was on October 23 

three gangs of men on each section working 
eight-hour shifts night and day. 

Dam the Chagress river and use the water 
to run turbines generating electricity to light 
the canal from one end to the other, also 
for operating power plants, etc. This dam 
can be arranged to allow an overflow of 
about one quarter more water than its nat- 
ural flow in times of flood. Electric lights 
and power would also be useful after com- 
pletion of canal— and all this at compara- 
tively little expense. An electric railway 
parallel with canal would be valuable. 

The entrance to the canal at each end 
should be 350 ft wide. Grade both sides 
of canal to an agreed level, then fill up all 
the back low-lying swamp land, etc., by 
using suction dredge pumps capable of hand- 
ling 6,000 cubic yards of material per hour 
each. Have two in the canal at each end. 
to follow up other excavators and grading 
canal to its proper depth as they go. After 



all the low and swamp lands are filled up, 
then have ready for use large, fast steam 
barges, that can be built to haul the dredg- 
ing out to deep sea; these barges can 
be better handled than ordinary barges with 
steam tugs to haul them out and back; 
in fact, if properly built would do 
the work much quicker and after com- 
pletion of canal could be easily altered 
for freight barges and I think would readily 
sell. By this method the canal could be 
finished and opened up for commerce by 
December, 1912, for we have the men, we 
have the will, and we have the money. 

The tide level locks should be double or 
twin locks to accommodate vessels both 
ways, up and down, and should be 1,100 ft. 
long by 125 ft. wide, each, to accommodate 
vessels of the near future 1,000 ft. by 100 ft. 
beam. This class of vessel will make ocean 
passenger travel a luxury, and will be of 
advantage in handling freight. 



312 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



ASCEND ALPS IN ELEVATOR 



Persons not hardy enough to risk the rig- 
ors of Alpine climbing are now enabled to 
mount to the summit of the Hammet- 
Schwand mountain, 3,600 ft. above sea 
level, by means of 
the longest lift in 
the world, an ele- 
vator 600 ft. high. 
The elevator is 
located not far 
from Lucerne, and 
the tourist who 
wishes to ascend 
follows a pictur- 
esque road cut out 
of the side of the 
mountain and over- 
hanging the lakes. 
In thirty minutes 
he arrives at a 
grotto in which the 
elevator shaft is 
hidden. The eleva- 
tor is operated by 
electricity. The 
cage is 12 feet 
square and only 
seven passengers 
are carried each 
trip. For the first 
213 ft. of the as- 
cent the cage shoots 

up through a well 
Alpine Lift T j, 

of masonry, then 

suddenly emerges into the glare of day, 
still rising in its slender shaft of steel lat- 
tice work, through a distance of 387 ft. 
The ascent is made in three minutes. At 
the top the passengers land on an open 
gallery leading to the summit of the moun- 
tain, where the view is glorious. 

Two strong steel cables are used to lift 
the cage, and in case the electric power is 
interrupted it can be lowered by hand from 
within to the starting point. A steel lad- 
der runs up the full height of the shaft. 



PROTECTED TIRES AND WOOD 
WHEELS FOR MOTOR CARS 





The enormous production of motor cars of 
all kinds, here and abroad, is making such 
a demand for rubber used in the tires, that 
some method of sub- 
stitution or protection 
of the rubber tires is 
becoming an absolute 
necessity. Already man- 
ufacturers are using 
less and less pure rub- 
ber, because purchasers 
are unwilling to pay a 
price for tires which 
a genuine rubber tire 
must bring. And the 
application of power to large passenger and 
freight vehicles necessitates rubber tires of 
such large proportions as were undreamed 
of a few years ago. In all the arts, requir- 
ing rubber there is a constantly increasing 
demand, which is causing a steady increase 
in the price of raw rubber. 

Among the most recent ideas in tires the 
Motor Age cites a. French invention by 
Herault which consists of a metal tread per- 
manently united with the tire casing; out- 
side the rubber tire is a heavy leather strip 
to which are fastened 
metal blocks, alternat- 
ing square and oblong 
in shape, which are riv- 
eted through the tire 
casing. It is hoped the 
plan will prove success- 
ful. 

For heavy vehicles an 
American company is 
making a wheel with 
the rim built up from 
sections of wood blocks 
which have been chemically treated. Any 
segment can easily be removed and re- 
placed and the wheel costs less than one 
rubber-tired wheel, and is expected to last 
three times as long. 




ENCYCLOPEDIA 



313 



BIG ORDERS FOR RAILROAD 
EQUIPMENT 



NEW PROCESS FOR COOLING CARS 



The present year promises to break all 
records in the construction of railroad equip- 
ment. The Railway Age compiles the fol- 
lowing comparison of 41 weeks of 1905 with 
1902, which was a record-breaker. 

41 Weeks 
1902. 1905. 

Freight cars 195,248 196,672 

Passenger cars 3,459 2,297 

Locomotives 4,665 4,131 

I! will be noted from the above table that 
orders for freight cars for the first 41 weeks 
of the current year are in excess of any 
previous year, while the contracts for pas- 
senger cars and locomotives, if continued at 
their present rate, will also exceed any pre- 
vious record. 

■» o » 

A MOTOR SALVAGE CAR 



Next in importance to the fire-fighting ap- 
paratus in the preservation of property in 
our cities comes the salvage car. Every 
moment from the time the alarm is received 
until the salvage crew has saved all it can 
from the flames is of utmost importance. 
With- this in mind, the more progressive 
cities have adopted the use of motor salvage 
cars, which enable the crew to arrive at the 
scene of the fire in the least time possible. 
Cincinnati, Ohio, is one of the cities thus 
equipped for effective service. Her salvage 
■car consists of a touring car chassis rigged 




Courtesy Winton Motor Carriage Co. 

Cincinnati's Motor Salvage Car 

with a specially designed body, equipped 
with all the necessary apparatus and carry- 
ing a large crew. 



A new process for icing fruit cars is 
being tried in California. One icing is ex- 
pected to last during the entire trip. The 




Forcing Cold Air into a Fruit Car 

secret lies in exhausting all the warm air 
from the car and at the same time forcing 
a blast through the ice, with the result 
that in six hours all of the air in the car 
is reduced to freezing and the fruit thor- 
oughly chilled.— Contributed by A. C. Whee- 
lock, Sacramento, Cal. 



TAX ON INDUSTRIAL ALCOHOL 
SHOULD BE REDUCED 



Industrial alcohol, which is made from a 
variety of products such as potatoes, beets, 
corn, etc., has already demonstrated its fit- 
ness as a fuel power for motors, launches, 
automobiles and many other purposes. It 
seems to be the one available fuel capable 
of competing with gasoline, the price of 
which is constantly advancing. European 
countries have reduced or removed the tax 
on industrial alcohol; here the tax is 2.000 
per cent of the cost of making. This tax 
should be either entirely removed, or, if nec- 
essary, to be taxed in order to control the 
manufacture, then let the tax be a nominal 
one and not prohibitive as at present. 



Burnt linseed oil is that which has been 
boiled three times. It is darker than other 
oils and will not spread out on paper, and 
for this reason is used by litho printers. 



314 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




NOVEL FRENCH LOCOMOTIVE 



Which May Revolutionize Present Designs- 
Reality a Double Header With Only One 
Boiler and Crew, and No Tender 



In 



In order to avoid the use of two locomo- 
tives, or the cutting in two of heavy trains 
on certain divisions of the Nord Railway of 
France, the chief mechanical engineer, Mons. 
du Bosquet, has designed and built two ma- 
chines which are the wonder of European 
railroad men. 

The new type is in reality a double header, 
with only one boiler, one crew of two men, 
and no tender. There are two sets of six- 
coupled drivers with two pair of carrying 
wheels between. Drivers are 57% in. diam- 
eter; carrying wheels 33% in. diameter. The 
locomotive is four- cylinder compound; the 
rear cylinders with diameter of 15% in. and 
26% in. stroke, are high pressure. The low 
pressure cylinders which actuate the for- 
' ward set of drivers are 24% in. diameter 
with 26% in. stroke. In starting or on 
grades both sets of cylinders can be worked 
high pressure. To increase the weight on 
the drivers four side tanks for water are 
built. 

; The steam passes from the boiler to a 
rotatable joint at the rear of the firebox— 
! below the fire door and above the pivot of 
the rear set of wheels. From this rotary 
joint a separate steam pipe supplies steam 
! to each of the high-pressure cylinders, a 
'special system of knee-jointed pipes connect- 
1 ing the high-pressure cylinders with the 
' low-pressure cylinders, while the utilization 
' of the new type of intercepting and starting 
valve recently brought out on the Nord of 
France Railway permits of the starting of 
the two groups of engines as simple expan- 
sion engines. The ends of the two cross 
beams are provided with slides bearing on 
castings attached to the rear running gear 
frames, and by this means the rear set of 
wheels can turn in a horizontal plane round; 
its pivot, but cannot move in any other 
direction as can the front set, which have a 
spherical pivot. Buffer springs are provided 
with a view to minimizing the transverse 
oscillations and the front set can thus adapt 
itself to the inequalities of the road, without 
in any degree affecting the suspended mass 
resting on the central girder. The Railway 
Review says: "In the course of some recent 
official trials, the engine illustrated herewith 
proved its ability to haul a load of nearly 
900 tons, over a grade rising 1 in 80, at a 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



315 



speed of 12 miles per hour, the engine pass- 
ing with ease over curves of 231 ft. radius, 
whilst when it was traveling at a speed 
exceeding 43 miles per hour, the engines 
were perfectly steady. 



HOW FURNITURE IS MARKETED 



GREAT FACTORY OF CEMENT 
BLOCKS 



The largest wagon factory in the world 
is now being erected at Moline, 111., and 
will cover 15 acres. The building will be of 
cement blocks, with an estimated saving 
over brick of $24,000. The power through- 
out will be electricity. 



A DOG MOTOR 



A dog motor is in successful operation in 
California. This suggests an opportunity for 
some one with a fancy for figures to esti- 
mate the amount of useful power now run- 
ning at large, serving no useful purpose, 
throughout the land. 

The illustration leaves little description 
necessary as to the construction and opera- 
tion of the motor which is connected by a 
rope drive to a grindstone. In this particu- 
lar instance the dog enters into the work 
with evident pleasure, and makes no effort 




Courtesy G. R. McLean , Carpentaria, Calif- 

The Motor in Operation 

to escape. Where the service is less willing 
the wheel can be covered with wire netting 
to keep the power from escaping, and a 
small ratchet wheel and (mechanical) dog 
placed on the axle will insure movement in 
the right direction only. 



In a test of submarine signaling conduct- 
ed on the vessel "Lucania" in England re- 
cently, a signal bell on a lightship at the 
mouth of the Mersey was heard at a dis- 
tance of nine and one-half knots. The ves- 
sel was under full steam at the time. 



Continuous Expositions of Ever-Changing Displays 
Fill Great Buildings 



The American people spend considerably 
in excess of $100,000,000 every year for fur- 
niture. In this is included the modest fur- 
nishings for housekeeping in a single room 
and costing all told only $25 all the way up 
to the $100,000 order to furnish a mansion. 







SJJB 

Vol' 

33J 

I 




New York Furniture Exchange 

Furniture is one of those things of which 
the traveling salesman cannot carry a full 
line of samples. And the styles are ever 
changing, with as many new novelties as a 
dry goods store. The retail dealer, there- 
fore, has to come to the seller to select his 
stock. This has brought about during the 
past few years the establishment of great 
expositions, where manufacturers display 
and sell their goods. 

In New York and Chicago immense sky- 
scrapers have been erected for this exclu- 
sive purpose, where everything manufac- 
tured in the furniture line is exhibited by 
the manufacturers. At first these exposi- 
tions were held each spring and fall, but 
now they are made continuous throughout 
the year. The buildings are specially con- 
structed as to light, even temperature, and 
fire protection. 

4~-+ 

In the fall before the furnace is started 
up for the winter, the registers all over the 
house should be closed and a good fire built 
to roast the germs and foreign matter that 
have collected in the pipes during the sum- 
mer. This is recommended as wise precau- 
tion by Dr. Spalding of the Chicago health 
department, who says that these germs 
mingle with the atmosphere otherwise. 



316 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



OPERATION OF THE LARGE OAS 
ENGINE 



How a 3,500 h. p. Machine is Put in Motion 



Only a few years ago a gas engine of 
100 h. p. was something unusual; now single 
units of several thousand horsepower are 




in successful operation, and are constantly 
being increased in size. Brief extracts are 
here made from a paper by Arthur West, 
read before the American Street Railway 
Association. 

"One of the most important considerations 
in the design of large gas engines is the 
arrangement of the cylinders. In a single 
cylinder, single acting four-cycle engine an 
explosion takes place once in every two 
revolutions. In order, therefore, to get the 
same rotative effect as with a double acting 
steam cylinder, it is necessary to work four 
. single acting cylinders on the shaft or two 
double acting gas cylinders tandem on one 
crank pin. With this arrangement four ex- 
plosions are obtained In two revolutions, or 
an explosion every 180 degrees of crank 
angle. In case of a misfire or premature 
ignition due to bad gas, the crank can only 
move one-half a turn before another explo- 
sion takes place. In a single cylinder single 
acting engine the crank must move two 
whole turns before the next explosion, while 
with two single acting cylinders opposed to 
each other or one double acting cylinder 
the crank may be required to move one and 
one-half turns before the next explosion." 

American gas engines are great improve- 
ments over the European types in being 
much more simple, especially in the valve 
gear. Efficiency varies with the different 
kinds of gas used. In the engine illustrated 
blast furnace gas will be used, making in- 
spection of the interior of the cylinders once 
in two months desirable. Provision is made 
for this examination through openings of 
easy access. 

"The four-cycle engine has, of course, to 
draw in its own mixture of air and gas 
and compress the same, and its functions, 
therefore, combine those of a pump, a com- 
pressor and a motor. It is the pumping and 
compressing work which causes the mechan- 
ical efficiency of the gas engine to be some- 
what lower than that of a steam engine. 
The actual friction of the working parts 
need be no greater than with a well con- 
structed corliss engine. . . . There is an 
impression rather prevalent that a gas en- 
gine is uncertain and hard to start. A 
properly designed engine, supplied with fair- 
ly decent gas, can be started as easily as a 
steam engine. Large Westinghouse horizon- 
tal gas engines are started by means of 
compressed air, the only operations required 
being, (1) open the main gas valve; (2) close 
the igniter circuit; (3) open one com- 
pressed air valve, similar in construction to 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



317 



an engine throttle. The compressed air puts 
the engine in motion, which draws the 
charge into the cylinders and compresses 
the same, after which the first explosion 
takes place. Compressed air is shut off and 
the engine is in full operation. We find no 
more difficulty in starting our gas engines 
than a steam engine of comparative size. 



I desire to lay stress on this point, as one 
of the stock arguments against the gas en- 
gine is that it is difficult to get into opera- 
tion." 

The engine illustrated is one of two twin 
tandem furnace gas blowing engines. For 
electric work a generator would be direct 
connected and the air cylinders omitted. 



HOW MACARONI IS MADE 



Italy no longer has a corner on the 
macaroni-making industry. Eight here in 
the United States there have sprung up 
within recent years a number of large fac- 
tories to supply the rapidly increasing 
American demand. In Italy macaroni is 
regarded as the national food, and when 
first introduced into the United States it was 
for the purpose of supplying the Italian resi- 
dents of this country. Gradually, however, 
others, including the Yankee, came to like 
it, whereupon the industry was given added 



saving machinery. In Naples and Genoa, in 
the early days of the industry, macaroni 
comprised mere lumps of paste squeezed 
and dried. The word "macaroni" is derived 
from a Latin word which means "to crush." 
It is a paste food, obtained by mixing flour 
and hot water and kneading the dough. 
As in modern breadmaking in this country, 
both the mixing and kneading are done by 
machinery. Eevolving machinery operated 
in large vats mixes the flour and water. 
Once in the shape of dough it is worked over 




Making Macaroni : Pressing and Trimming Operations 



impetus. France and Great Britain likewise 
learned from the Italian how to make maca- 
roni and the industry, especially in France, 
is now carried on upon quite an extensive 
scale. 

The American manufacture of macaroni 
is distinguished, as might be expected, by 
the introduction of different forms of labor- 



upon a flat surface by a system of mechani- 
cal weights, which also revolve, and which, 
in addition to crushing the dough, are so 
equipped that it is at all times kept within 
bounds and moving in the proper channels. 
After being kneaded the dough is cut up 
into large chunks and dropped into big 
baskets and carried to the macaroni presses. 



318 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



Into the top of double-cylinder presses it 
goes, from which it comes out at the bot- 
tom in the long hollow tubes, so familiar 



As the product comes from the presses it 
is cut off in the desired lengths by an at- 
tendant upon the machines, who, in turn, 




"The Seasoning Requires About Ten Days'* 



to the users of macaroni. This shape is 
given to the product by its passage through 
the dies of the press and the difference in 
the shape of these dies is responsible for 
the various forms of paste foods which 
are made in a macaroni factory. Some 
shapes do not have the hollow centers be- 




Boxing and Shipping Room 

cause of their smaller size. The object of 
the hollow center in the regulation sized 
macaroni is that it will cook better in this 
form. 



throws these lengths across a stick. After 
these lengths have been properly distributed 
on the stick, he places it upon a rack where 
the macaroni is cut and trimmed, as shown 
in one of the photographs. It is now ready 
to go to the next room where great fans 
are at work which dry the product, after 
which it is ready for the seasoning process. 
The seasoning takes place in a large airy 
room and requires about ten days. The 
long lengths of macaroni, thrown across 
sticks and hanging up by the thousands in 
this room, present a very novel sight. 

When properly seasoned the macaroni 
goes to the inspecting and packing depart- 
ments. 

•» » » 

POWER FOR LONDON 



More than half a million horse power is 
required for the factories and workshops in 
the city of London. At the present time 
.less than 5 per cent of this power is sup- 
plied by electric means. An effort is being 
made to produce in enormous quantities elec- 
tric power for transmission and use through- 
out the city, thus doing away with the gen- 
eral consumption of coal with its attendant 
smoke, gas and ashes. It is proposed to 
erect several generating stations in the out- 
skirts, thus removing the objectionable fea- 
tures from the city proper. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



319 



MODERN MANUFACTURE OF LIME 



The crude but useful lime kilns, built of 
some refractory stone or brick on a hillside, 
are rapidly giving place to the steel kilns, 
which can be kept in continuous operation 
day and night. 

The "ready made" kiln consists of a 
heavy cast iron bed plate from which rises 
the steel cylinder, 11 ft. in diameter and 
50 ft. high. The interior is heavily lined 
with fire brick to within 10 ft. of the top. 
The furnaces, four in number, are 10 ft. 
from the base, and below the grate bars is 
the coaling cone, which is filled at intervals 
by opening the grates and allowing the hot 
lime to fall through. The lime cools suf- 
ficiently in the cone to load into barrels or 
cars. A forced draft, as in a foundry 
cupola, insures a steady and intense heat. 

The fuel, which may be either coal or 
wood, and the limestone is carried to the 




Single KiIn==Sectional View 

top in small cars on an inclined track, and 
constantly dumped into, the kiln. 
It is the custom now to erect these kilns 



in batteries. Each kiln will weigh about 
22 tons and the fire brick to line it 7 tons 
more. The lining is 2% ft. in thickness. 
One pound of coal will produce from four 
to five pounds of lime. Lime is made 




Battery of Kilns 

faster with wood, but costs more. The 
capacity of a single modern kiln is from 
100 to 140 lbs. each 24 hours, and cost from 
$1,500 up. 

♦♦-* 

SOUTHERN YELLOW PINE 



The yellow pine is, commercially, the 
most important of the southern pines. Long 
leaf pine is always yellow pine, but not all 
yellow pine is long leaf. When manufac- 
tured it is known as long leaf, Georgia, 
hard, and southern pine. Its supply is not 
confined to Georgia, although that state 
first made it known in the general market; 
it is found from southern Virginia, down 
through the Carolinas and Georgia into 
Florida, and in Louisiana and East Texas. 
The long leaf is not found to any extent 
more than 150 miles from salt water. The 
Southern Lumber Review says: 

Tests made by. the United States govern- 
ment show that the long-leaf is the supe- 
rior to the other in strength, elasticity and 
hardness, and of higher fuel value. If 
greater weight is an element of value, the 
long-leaf pine likewise has that quality. 
Long-leaf yellow pine is the strongest of the 
American pines. It is uniformly free from 
defects. The wood is even grained, and 
talies a high polish. 



320 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



RUSSIAN OIL TANK CARS 



The recent uprising with attendant revo- 
lution and burning of millions of dollars' 
worth of oil and oil refineries at Baku, 




Oil Tank Cars of the Russian Government Railway 

Russia, has attracted unusual attention to 
this great Russian industry. 

The tank cars of the government railway 
in which the oil is shipped overland— the 
major part being sent by water — are about 
one-half the size of tank cars used in this 
country. Each car has a built-up exten- 
sion, as shown in the illustration, and is 
carried on four wheels. 



GARDEN OVER ELECTRIC PLANT 



A duke, residing in London, had a beau- 
tiful garden on a certain spot where an 
electric company decided it must establish 
a substation. The duke would not give up 
his garden and the company had to have 
its station. The difficulty was overcome by 
excavating the garden, building the station 
in a basement, and restoring the garden just 
as it was before on the roof of the electric 
plant. Trees, flowers and plants adorn the 
grounds, in the midst of which plays a beau- 
tiful fountain, while beneath whirling trans- 
formers noiselessly but ceaselessly perform 
their work. 

+ « » 

MOTOR CYCLE FASTEST VEHICLE 



In the recent Paris races the motor cycle 
carried off the honors for speed. The 
12-horsepower Peugeot ridden by Cissac 
covered the mile standing start in 53 1-5 
seconds, or 3-5 of a second faster than the 
time made by Clifford Earp in the six- 
cylinder 80-horsepower Napier. Averaged, 



Peugeot made the fastest time in all the 
six events in which they started. 



INGENIOUS AIR=L1FT PUMP 



An air-lift pump which is creditably re- 
ported to be in successful operation in sev- 
eral places, is one more practical illustra- 
tion of actually doing what the books have 
said could not be done. In fact, the Patent 
Office declared the pump non-operative until 
a demonstration proved the contrary. 

A pressure of 40 lb. per square inch will 
lift a column of water in a pipe 92 ft. 
With the system in question using a 1%-in. 
air pipe and a 4-in. discharge pipe, water 
was lifted 210 ft. with 30 lb. pressure, de- 
livering 220 gal. per minute. In the cut 
"a" represents pistons of air and "w" pis- 
tons of water; "C" is the U-shaped well, 
and "A" the air supply. The friction of the 
air in passing from "B" to "D," while small, 
is yet sufficient to make the pressure at 
"D" less than at "B," with the result that 
at regular intervals the column of water at 
"B" falls to the level "y-y" and rises cor- 
respondingly at "D," where ft is carried up- 
ward in the ascending pipe. 

It should be remembered that the com- 
pressed air is at no time lifting a solid 
column of 200 ft. or 300 ft. 
of water, but only a short 
section; and that the total 
length of the water pistons 
in a 300-ft. pipe, for instance, 
would be about 100 ft. 

One advantage of the meth- 
od is that there is no sub- 
merged working machinery, 
as the air compressor can be 
placed at the most convenient 
nearby point, aad driven by 
an electric motor, or the air 
can be piped down from the 
surface. 



m 



m 



bvyi 



Ss 



+- A 



y— 



> _: =x 






m 



— y 






Air=Lift Pump 



A SEA OF FIRE 



Great Conflagration Covers Four Square Miles and Consumes 2,250,000 

Barrels of Oil==Workmen's Families Flee in Terror== 

Lives Lost, Homes Destroyed 




L. L. Allen, Phot., Humble, Toxaa. 



The Conflagration at Its Height 



A sea of fire that surged its burning 
waves over its brim and swept into that 
awful holocaust the bodies of men and 
beasts and the lowly dwelling places of 
many workmen wrought fearful havoc at 
Humble, Texas, a new oil field 16 miles 
from Houston, recently. The disaster oc- 
curred at four o'clock on a Sunday after- 
noon, a time when people were resting quiet- 
ly in their homes. A bolt of lightning struck 
an earthen oil reservoir and set fire to the 
oil it contained. 



321 



Two hundred men and 75 mules were put 
to work at throwing up an earthen embank, 
ment to keep the fire within bounds, when 
suddenly the oil boiled over and the fire 
spread to other tanks. Fifty mules were 
burned to death and that some men per- 
ished is certain. The people at the oil field 
abode in tents and these frail structures 
were ready prey for the flames. Men, 
women and children, half clad, fled iu 
terror. 

At its height the fire covered an area oC 



322 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



four square miles and in all 2,250,000 bar- 
rels of oil were consumed. Placing the 
value at 25 cents per barrel, tbe total loss 



in oil alone was $562,500. It required sev- 
eral days' work to get the fire under control. 
The fight was carried on amid great danger. 




The Oil Tanks Before the Fire 



AIR SHIP IN CHICAGO 



Knabenshue and his air ship have come 
and gone. The demonstration was disap- 
pointing, for the flights were few and not 
nearly as successful as at New York _or 
Columbus. The reason given was that the 
air currents from the lake made operations 
dangerous, and as the navigator refused to 
go up when the wind exceeded 12 miles an 
hour, which it did nearly every day for two 
weeks, few opportunities were afforded. 
Several short flights were successful so far 
as returning and landing within a few feet 
of starting point, and one flight of two miles 
and return was made. 

The air ship consists of a 62-ft. gas bag 
with a capacity of 7,000 cu. ft. of gas, and 
weighing 65 lbs. Prom the bag is suspended 
a bamboo framework 38 ft. long which, 
with the 10-hp. gasoline engine weighs 200 
lbs. The "propeller" is two-bladed, 16 ft. 
in diameter and pulls the ship along, being 
placed in front. The propeller revolves at 
180 r. p. m., being geared down from an en- 
gine speed of 2,160 r. p. m. When the engine 
stops during a flight the operator makes no 
effort to start it, but descends. 

That we are a long way from any com- 
mercial travel in air ships is clearly indi- 
cated in Mr. Knabenshue's statement: 

"I do not believe that air ships will ever 
be made practicable for aerial navigation 
for the public. I consider that out of the 
question. They are of service in time of 



war, where one can sail over the enemy's 
camp and return and report his position 
and strength." 



TELEPHONE BEATS CYCLONE= 
SAVES LIVES 



That the telephone is responsible for the 
saving of the lives of an entire family near 
Clyde, Minn., is an undisputed fact. It was 
at the farm of Frank H. Sanders, where he 
and his wife and six weeks old baby, his 
mother and his father-in-law were seated 
at the supper table, says the American Tele- 
phone Journal. 

They knew that a storm was approaching, 
but thought it would amount to nothing 
more than the average summer thunder 
storm. Suddenly the telephone rang long 
and loudly, and Mr. Sanders answered. The 
call was from his neighbor, A. McConchie, 
who told him that a funnel-shaped cloud had 
formed over toward the south and was then 
driving directly for the Sanders place. Mr. 
Sanders called the family, and picking up 
the baby he dashed out of the house, fol- 
lowed by the others. They sought refuge in 
a clump of willows a few rods away. Hard- 
ly had they reached the trees, where they 
held on for life, when the cyclone struck the 
house and in a minute the large brick struc- 
ture was in ruins. 

No member of the family was injured be- 
yond a few bruises from flying debris. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



S23 



INTERURBAN AUTO LINE 



The flotor Car Enters the Field Against the Trolley Car==First Line is 22 fliles Long 
in Ohio== Results Encouraging thus Far. 



An interurban auto line is now in opera- 
tion in Ohio, a state already a network of 
interurban trolley lines. To what extent 
tbe new system may affect further construc- 
tion of electric lines remains to be seen. 
Such undertakings seem particularly well 
adapted for use on exclusively summer lines, 
such as connecting lakes with railroad sta- 
tions. The saving over the cost of track 
construction and power houses is very great, 
and the motor buses cost no more, and us- 
ually less than electric cars. 

The line referred to connects Springfield, 
0., with Jamestown, 22 miles distant, pass- 
ing through two other towns on the route, 
with a combined city population of 42,500 
people. The roads are fairly good, but the 
motor line offers to pay $100 per mile per 
year toward the maintenance and improve- 
ment of the roads, if the local a ithorities 
will do the same. Two cars are already in 
service (with one in reserve), making the 
run of 22 miles in 1 hr. 45 min. A rate of 



1 


~COD£~- 




r GMARY3V!LLE 










-. ... RAILROADS 


ORSANA 


r Nv 










®77?OY 


It 


cHAnicsausa ^^ 


coib 


tfBVS 






y< $1 


f£FKMGFWLD 


lOHDOH 










L^l is 














ZlAY TO/?"*^^ ^> 


^^^CEOAX VLUE 












-AT^IA"*-^, 
















^"~*-*iM MES TOPf 


*~*GfKASHlNSTOH CH. 









The Route 

2% cents per mile is charged, or 50 cents 
for the through trip. The Motor A"ge says. 
"From Present running the cost of operation 
can be fairly well calculated. In a round 
trip of 44 miles 4% to 5 gallons of gasoline 
are consumed and 2% pints of lubricating 
oil. The former costs 10% cents per gallon 
and the latter 50 cents per gallon, making 
the expense for each round trip 57 cents. 
The operator is paid 25. cents an hour and 
as 2 hours are required for the round trip 



an extra $1 must be added, making the act- 
ual operating expenses for a round trip for 
each machine, $1.67. Four and a half such 
trips are made each day, so that the daily 
expense is $7.51, and the yearly cost 




One of the Vehicles 

amounts to $2,253. The company is allow- 
ing 2 cents per car mile for repair and de- 
preciation. The two machines make together 
220 miles each day or 66,000 miles per year, 
300 days, so that the yearly repair allow- 
ance amounts to $1,320, which, taken with 
the annual fuel bill, gives a grand total of 
$3,573. 

"The three machines cost $6,600, an ex- 
tra sum of $1,000 was spent in fixing up 
a garage and repair shop, and $1,000 was 
spent on highway repair. On this invest- 
ment 5 per cent interest must be placed, 
which adds $430 to the total of $3,573 al- 
ready reached, making in all $4,003 expenses 
for the first year. 

"Where are the receipts to cover this ex- 
penditure to come from and what will the 
company have as a revenue at the end of 
the year? Supposing that only one passen- 
ger was carried throughout the entire year, 
the receipts therefrom, at 2% cents per mile, 
would be 2% cents taken 66,000 times which 
gives $1,650. Two passengers carried all of 
the time would be an annual revenue of $3,- 
300 and four passengers would yield yearly 
receipts of $6,600. Take from this sum the 
operating expenses, $4,003, and there re- 
mains $1,597 as a dividend on the $20,000 



324 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



paid-up stock. A 5 per cent dividend on the 
$20,000 stock would only amount to $1,000, 
bo there remains a margin of $597 for some 
things that are sure to lighten the coffers 
of the concern." 

The cars will accommodate 14 passengers 
each; an 18-hp. gasoline engine furnishes 
power for an average speed of 15 miles an 
hour. Arrangements are heing made to ex- 
tend the service 35 miles to Marysville. The 
experience of this line will be watched with 
great interest. m 



THE GAS ENGINEER 



In his annual address to the Pacific Coast 
Gas Association its president refers to the 
promising future to young men in gas engi- 
neering. While the title is at present a self- 
conferred one, the near future will recognize 
it as distinctively as electrical engineering. 
A course in mechanical engineering is essen- 
tial as a foundation. 

Of the future of the gas engine he said: 
"The great future universal success of the 




Turns out Pies Ready for the Market 



MACHINE MAKES 300 PIES AN 
HOUR 



Three hundred pies every hour is what 
the new pie machine is doing. For people 
with whom pies do not agree, this is some- 
thing fearful to contemplate, but to the 
small boy the announcement is next to a 
circus or the millennium. The dough is 
mixed in a special machine and fed into the 
pie machine which cuts out both top and 
bottom crusts, lifts the plates, drops the fill- 
ing into place, lays the covers, trims and 
finishes the pie ready to be placed in the 
oven. Only three attendants are required, 
and the machine will operate as long as the 
proprietor furnishes the. dough. The filling 
is prepared separately and poured into a 
large receptacle which lets down just the 
right amount as each pie form passes along. 



gas engine is dependent on some form of 
cheap, though effective, power gas, all kinds 
of which are now being experimented with, 
and all forms of fuels are being tested, in- 
cluding coals, coke, charcoal, petroleum, oils, 
hydro-carbon residues, volatile hydro-car- 
bons, wood, peat, hay, straw, leaves, rushes, 
reeds, moss, sawdust, shavings and dried 
sewage. All kinds of combustibles are eco- 
nomically usable in one manner or another, 
and the time is probably not far distant 
when an enormous amount of our power 
will be derived through the medium of the 
gas engine from fuels we now allow to go 
to waste." 

» *♦ 

As an experiment, 5,000 boxes of choicest 
peaches were put in cold storage in Califor- 
nia. It is hoped to market them at Christ- 
mas. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



325 



GASOLINE = ELECTRIC 'BUS FOR NEW YORK 



Unusual Combination of Powers in the Test Vehicles 



An electric street car without any trolley 
or track, and running on pneumatic tires, 
is a brief description of the gasoline-elec- 
tric motor car, the first of its kind to be 
operated in a large city in America. It is 
unlikely that the newcomer will seriously 
compete with street cars, although the body 
has been built at one of the largest street 
car plants in this country, and the electri- 
cal machinery by one of the large builders 
of street car motors. The car or 'bus is on 
trial and making regular trips on Fifth ave- 
nue between Washington Square and 88th 
street. Passengers are carried at a fare of 



power producer, a vertical 4-cylinder gaso- 
line engine of 40 h. p., direct connected to 
an electric generator of 45 h. p. Two elec- 
tric motors are placed beneath the car, con- 
venient to the rear wheels, and driving 
them by means of a sprocket chain. Twenty 
cells of storage battery, which must be 
charged once daily, are also carried beneath 
the car and supply current to start the gen- 
erator, which in starting sets the" gasoline 
engine at work. The generator does not re- 
store any power to the batteries. This is 
a change from previous operations in which 
the gas engine has run continuously, and 




'An Electric Street Car Without Trolley or Track" 



10 cents each, and with a saving over the 
horse-drawn buses of 10 minutes. 

The car has no upper deck and deserves 
no special description. Entrance is entirely 
by one side at the rear, and a narrow aisle 
divides the two rows of cross seats, accom- 
modating two passengers each, or 28 in all. 
The power, however, is an interesting 
combination of a gas engine, an electric 
generator and motors, with storage batter- 
ies as auxiliary power to start and for light- 
ing. The power combination is not alto- 
gether new in principle, having been em- 
ployed more than 10 years ago, by Wm. 
Patton, of Chicago, as power for cars on 
track, at a time when gas engines were 
much less efficient than now. 
' Beneath the driver's seat is the prime 



was supposed to contribute to the battery 
any surplus electrical power generated, such 
as while going down hill when more power 
is produced than used. The batteries also 
furnish the light, both for interior, head- 
lights and rear signal lamps. No standing 
passengers are allowed. 

Should the experiment prove a mechan- 
ical and financial success, it is the intention 
to entirely replace the Fifth avenue stages 
with the new cars. 



On January 1 of this year there were 
537,105 miles of railroad in the world, of 
which 270,386 are in America; 187,776 in 
Europe; 46,592 in Asia; 15,649 in Africa and 
16,702 in Australasia. 



326 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



FILTERED BREATH FOR MINERS 



Filtering the exhaled breath, so that a 
little store of oxygen may be used again 
and again as the medium for expelling from 
the lungs the carbon dioxide and vapor 
of water produced there, is the means by 




is put on the body and the supporting frame 
hung about the neck and locked in position 
by means of a leather waistband. All the 
joints are screwed tight. The bag is then 
filled with 8 qt. of oxygen, either by means 
of an oxygen producer and filling tube pro- 
vided with the apparatus, or by pumping 
it in from a supply. The mouthpiece is 
then inserted between the lips and teeth 
and a nose clamp is adjusted. 

The sodium-potassium peroxide, assisted 
by the filters, absorbs the carbon dioxide 
and vapor of water from the exhaled breath. 
Breathing takes place simultaneously through 
two boxes and the third may be switched 
on when these are exhausted, which is made 
known by a high' resistance offered to 
breathing. With this apparatus, a man can 
breathe for a period of 90 minutes, allowing 
60 minutes for work and 30 minutes for 
retreat from the locality. 

The apparatus may be cleansed and re- 
charged, and may be kept in reserve for 
emergencies for years with only an occa- 
sional inspection. 

■» » » 

RATTLESNAKE STOPS AN AUTO 



Two enthusiastic automobilists who are 
crossing the continent relate in the Auto- 
mobile, their experiences in crossing the 
plains. In some districts the rattlers were 
so numerous that sleeping on the ground was 
impossible. On one occasion they ran into 
a mass of rattlers sleeping in the sun, sev- 
eral of whom were thrown into the air. One 



How the Apparatus is Worn 

which, in the future, rescue parties will be 
enabled to carry on their work for an hour 
at a time in the deadly atmosphere of mines 
where explosions have occurred. 

The ingenious device by which this is ac- 
complished is the invention of two scientists 
of the Polytechnical University of Vienna. 
The apparatus comprises three boxes con- 
taining the same amount of sodium-potas- 
sium peroxide supported in a frame provided 
with a hose, a mouthpiece and a bag in 
the form of a jacket. The boxes are in- 
closed in an insulated covering of braided 
pasteboard. 

To use, the boxes are placed in the frame 
so that the sheet lead plates with which 
they are sealed come in contact with per- 
forated crowns of the frame. The hose- 
connecting joint is placed upward and the 
bag-connecting joint downward. The jacket 




Snake Stopped this Auto 

fell on the canvas covering of the tonneau, 
but fortunately slid off without doing any 
harm. One of the wheels was less fortu- 
nate, for a big fellow fanged the tire and in 
a short time it went flat. The car is mak- 
ing a transcontinental trip, New York to 
San Francisco. 




ENCYCLOPEDIA 327 

BIG STREAMS TO FIGHT FIRES 



Recent Invention Enables Firemen to Throw 2 l=2=inch 
Stream Over 300 Feet 



For a full half century there had been 
practically no change in the manner of 
handling fire streams. Then a man with a 
mechanical turn of mind studied the sub- 
ject and produced a device which has made 
it possible to hurl a stream of water 2% in. 
in diameter at the nozzle, a distance of 400 
ft. And what is much more remarkable a 
little girl 10 years of age can direct the 
stream without assistance from anyone. 

If "a little knowledge is a dangerous 
thing," even more so is a small stream of 
water on a big fire. Under proper condi- 
tions the water, instead of putting out the 
fire, only serves to make it burn more 
fiercely. At 212 degrees the water is con- 
verted into steam, and at 1,470 degrees the 
steam is converted into its natural gases, 
oxygen and hydrogen. Hydrogen is consid- 
ered, when burned separately, the hottest 
of all known gases, and when mixed with 





Two Ways of Fighting a Fire 



Courtesy Samuel Eastman Co. 

"A Child Can Direct the Stream" 

three-sevenths cf its volume of air, explodes, 
and in its incandescent state burns at such 
an intense heat as to melt almost any known 
substance; wrought iron melts at 2,900 de- 
grees, a temperature often reached in fires. 

Some years ago larger streams than had 
previously been possible were secured by 
the use of Siamese couplings, in which two 
or more small streams from engines or hy- 
drants were brought together in the coup- 
ling and emerged from the farther end in 
a large, powerful stream. Standpipes are 
operated on this plan, and with two or more 
powerful fire engines to furnish the water 
will pour a small river into an eighth story. 
But only the larger cities can afford stand- 
pipe outfits. 

Even where the Siamese is in use the 
handling of the big stream is something 
calling for strength and nerve. The chief 
reason heretofore why large streams have 
not been used has been the difficulty and 
danger of controlling them at the nozzle. 



328 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



The recoil, or pull back, of all nozzle pipes 
is in exact proportion to the size of dis- 
charge. A 1-in. nozzle under a pressure of 
100 lb. requires the best efforts of two 
strong men in directing. Increase the size 



VARIABLE EXHAUST FOR LOCO- 
MOTIVES 




Nozzle a Child Can Control 

to 1% in. and it requires the third man; to 
1% in. and it calls for the fourth man. As 
the space at the pipe is limited only about 
three men can work to advantage, and this 
is why all Are companies practically stop 
with 1 and 1%-in. streams, the same sizes 
that were formerly used on hand engines. 
The latest improvement— it might almost 
be called a discovery— is in the construction 
of a nozzle which can be adjusted from the 
smallest stream to one of 3 in. without 
shutting down, and which, instead of re- 
quiring several strong men to control, al- 
most stands alone. So easy is it to control 
a child can, with perfect safety, direct the 
great deluge of water which would knock 
a man down 100 ft. distant. Horizontal 
streams have been thown a distance of 350 
ft and vertical streams repeatedly to a 
height of 200 ft. 



WATER COMPRESSES AIR 



Wind and water are so frequently men- 
tioned in connection with mining stocks, 
that it is interesting to find one instance 
where the use of these two great forces in 
nature are an actual asset. A gold mining 
company in British Columbia uses com- 



*, J^BMBhue , 1 








^gm*- ^pswi 


' . t 



Water=Wheel Ail Compressor 

pressed air for hoisting and drilling, and 
the compression is secured by means of a 
water wheel. The wheel develops 90 h. p. 
under a head of 170 ft. 



This device is intended to lessen the tre- 
mendous draft in a locomotive without in- 
terfering witfo its steaming qualities, and is 
known as the Wheaton variable exhaust. 
At certain times and under certain condi- 
tions the exhaust escapes through a separ- 
ate pipe outside the stack, with sufficient 
force to maintain the necessary fire to steam 
properly. The illustration shows the at- 
tachment on a Chicago Great Western en- 
gine. Locomotive Engineering says: "The 
apparatus acts with the action of the re- 
verse lever and the pressure of the exhaust 
in the stack is directly dependent upon the 
relative position of the reverse lever upon 




Engine Showing the Variable Exhaust 

the quadrant. If the reverse lever is at the 
end of the quadrant the separate exhaust 
is at its greatest opening, and this opening 
is gradually reduced as the lever is hooked 
up to running position. At this point the 
valve is closed." 



TURBINE BATTLESHIP FOR BRIT- 
ISH NAVY 



The British navy is to have an 18,000-ton 
turbine battleship, the first of its kind to 
be built. The vessel will have four sets 
of turbines mounted on four shafts and 
operating ahead turbines. Each shaft will 
be equipped with ahead turbines for high 
and low pressures and with astern turbines, 
also. Water-tube boilers will be used and 
the ship is designed for a speed of 21 knots. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



329 



A SAWDUST HILL 



Old Mother Nature's rock-ribbed emi- 
nences have a promising rival in a huge 
pile of sawdust that has been accumulating 
for several years at Cheboygan, Wis. The 
hill covers 14 acres of ground, is 1,080 ft. 
long, 875 ft. wide, ranges from 20 to 50 ft. 
in height, and is composed almost entirely 
of white and Norway pine sawdust. 

The mill that produced this enormous 
amount of sawdust was run by water power 
and so had no way of disposing of the 
waste, says Wood Craft. The village pro- 
hibited the company burning it on account 
of the smoke, and they were not permitted 
to dump it into the river. The sawdust is 
rotting a little at the bottom. Chemists 
have examined it at times with a view to 
extracting its chemicals (its only value), 
but nothing has been done in this regard. 



SIXTEEN THOUSAND HORSEPOWER 
FEED WATER HEATER 



RUBBER TIRE PROTECTOR 



The protector is made of rubber with a 
corrugated tread % in. thick; on each 
side are 10 ears, projecting toward the 
center of the wheel, and to each ear is riv- 
eted a meta-1 hook. A steel cable passes 
around and engages with each hook, and 
the two ends are joined by a turnbuckle, 




Tire Protector 

the tightening of which draws the protector 
down on the tire as closely as may be nec- 
essary. The cable is % in. in diam- 
eter. The device is put in place when the 
tire is deflated, and after inflating the tire, 
the protector is pulled down with the turn- 
fouckles. 



One of the largest feed water heaters 
ever built was recently installed in a Phila- 
delphia power house. The heater is 90 in. 
in diameter and 15 ft. long overall. All its 
working parts and the bottom are made of 
cast iron, and as this material is found to 




Oomte»y The Foppea Mfg. Co. 

Mammoth Feed Water Heater 

be less corrosive in certain waters than 
steel plate, it is used in all parts coming in 
contact with the water. To save weight 
the shell above the water line is made of 
steel plate. The lime-catching surface in 
the heater is 2,010 sq. ft., the pans being 
multiple trough -shaped pattern; by the use 
of this form of pans the water is made 
to flow over the sides and through the slots 
and to follow along the underside of the 
pans in a thin film so that the steam comes 
in direct contact with it, even when the 
pans are coated with lime or other solids. 
Owing to the large amount of lime-catch- 
ing surface and the settling chambers pro- 
vided by the troughs, no filter is required. 

A large oil eliminator is provided at the 
rear end of the heater and the feed water 
is regulated by means of a float in an out- 
side box. , 

The front head of the heater is removed 
and swings to one side by means of a crane 
provided for the purpose, opening up the 
entire end of the heater so that the pans 
may be removed for cleaning, and as lime 
and other solids form only on the pans, this 
work may be done entirely on the outside. 



330 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



BATTLESHIP "NEW HAMPSHIRE" 



The new United States battleship "New 
Hampshire," now in course of construction, 
will be of 16,000 tons displacement and 
equipped with the heaviest armor and most 
powerful armament for a vessel of her 
class. Her dimensions are: Length on load 
waterline, 450 ft.; extreme breadth at load 
waterline, 76 ft. 10 in.; mean draught to 
bottom of keel, 24 ft. 6 in. She will be of 
16,500 horsepower, and her trial speed is 
placed at 18 knots. She will carry a com- 
plement of 860 officers, seamen and marines. 

The fighting equipment of the vessel will 



separate water-tight compartments. Steals 
will be supplied by twelve water-tube boil- 
ers at a working pressure of 265 lb. They 
will have not less than 1,100 sq. ft. of grate 
surface, and not less than 46,750 sq. ft. of 
heating surface. The three smoke stacks 
will be each 100 ft. high above the base 
line. 

The vessel will have an evaporating plant 
capable of turning out 16,500 gal. of fresh 
water daily, and distilling apparatus capa. 
ble of condensing 16,500 gal. daily. There 
will also be a dense-air refrigerating plant 
and an electric-generating plant. An elec- 
tric dish-washing machine, an electric 




U. S. Battleship "New Hampshire' 



comprise: Four 12-in. breech-loading rifles, 
eight 8-in. and twelve 7-in.; twenty 3-in. 
14-pounder rapid fire guns, twelve 3-pounder 
semi-automatic guns, four 1-pounder semi- 
automatic guns, two 3-in. field pieces, two 
machine guns and two automatic guns. She 
will also carry four submerged torpedo 
tubes for the discharge of the largest and 
latest type of 21-in. automobile torpedoes. 
The hull protection will consist of a com- 
plete belt of waterline armor, 9 ft. 3 in. 
wide, having a uniform maximum thickness 
throughout a range of 285 ft. amidships, 
gradually tapering thence to 4 in. at the 
bow and the stern. 

The ship will be driven by twin screws, 
actuated by triple-expansion engines of the 
four-cylinder type, capable of developing 
16,500 indicated horsepower when making 
120 revolutions a minute under an impulse 
of steam at a pressure of 250 lb. to the 
square inch. The engines will be placed in 



dough-kneading machine, a steam bakery 
and a steam laundry will be among the 
modern features. Wireless apparatus will 
be provided, also. The hygienic facilities 
throughout will be of the best. The cost of 
the battleship will be $4,400,000. 

+—+ 

MINERALS IN THE PHILIPPINES 



The Philippines are rich in precious met- 
als. A report just issued by the Department 
of the Interior tells of gold, silver, copper, 
platinum, iron, coal anl petroleum. Stamp 
mills and cyanide plants have been erected 
by enterprising Americans, and other im- 
provements are under way. 

•»«<(■ 

Cement and concrete are poor conductors 
of electricity. Even when re-inforced with 
steel it is believed to be as immune frorfi 
lightning as ordinary buildings. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



331 



ARTIFICIAL MOONLIGHT 




Copyrleh.1904, by The General Electric Co. 



Hudson River Scenery Seen by Searchlight 



On the Hudson river where the scenery 
on either side is unsurpassed for grandeur, 
pleasure excursions by night are many. Not, 
however, the time-honored moonlight excur- 
sions only, but excursions on very dark 
nights also, when the scenery is flashed 
upon the delighted vision by means of 
powerful searchlights. The effect produced 
by this means is fantastic and beautiful in 
the extreme, as each succeeding phase of 
the panorama is brought out in a radiance of 
light against the dark background of the 
night, and then as suddenly lost as a new 
view succeeds it. 

In our illustration is shown one of these 
pleasure boats, the "C. W. Morse," fitted 
with a 36-in. projector illuminating the 
capitol at Albany, N. Y. 

Naturally the field for such powerful 
lights is a wide one. In marine service, on 
yachts, dredges, passenger steamers, and 
merchant vessels of all kinds, or for picking 
up buoys in the channel, in towing rude 



log rafts, or lighting, the scene of an acci- 
dent they may now be found in efficient 
service. They have found a place in adver- 
tising and exhibition work, in mines where 
hydraulic operations are carried on at night 
and in many other inland enterprises. 
In the South African war many of them 
were used in protecting armored supply 
trains. The largest commercial size of pro- 
jectors is 18 inches in diameter, but for 
some special purposes they are manufac- 
tured in sizes up to 80 inches. 
•» « » 

GUM WOOD FOR FURNITURE 



Red gum wood, or satin walnut as it is 
known in Europe, is being used in the man- 
ufacture of furniture. Unless well seasoned 
it wai'ps badly, but when thoroughly dried 
remains in place and readily takes a high 
polish. European manufacturers will not 
use a piece of wood which has not had from 
three to five years natural seasoning. 



332 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



TURNING PLANTS OUT OF POTS 



This is one of those things which is less 
easy to do than appearances would indicate. 
By following the directions given in the 




Fio 2. fTo 3 

Right Way is Easy 

Gardener's Magazine you can become as ex- 
pert as any professional gardener. 

Place the fingers over the soil, with the 
plant stem between them (Fig. 1); invert, 



and, holding the pot with the other hand, 
give the rim one or more sharp taps on the 
front edge of a solid bench. This will 
cause the ball of soil to slip out of the pot 
(Fig. 2), and, holding it bottom upward, it 
may then be subjected to the necessary ex- 
amination. This completed, put the pot 
over the ball (Fig. 3), press it down, and 
turn the right way up. Then, keeping the 
fingers firmly on the surface of the soil, give 
the pot one or two sharp taps on the bench 
to settle the plant in its place. This little 
operation will also prove the advantage of 
using perfectly clean pots for potting, for 
if the pots are dirty inside, when used, the 
new soil and new roots will stick to it in 
such a way that when an attempt is made 
to turn the plant out for examination the 
ball of soil becomes broken and many roots 
are damaged. 



RAILWAY ASPHALT PAVING PLANT 



Contractors who are taking paving con- 
tracts in different cities now move their 
plant when they finish in one town and go 
to the next. But there is no tearing down 
of buildings in one place and loss of time in 
erecting them again in another. The entire 
"plant" is built on a specially constructed 
railway car and the moving is all done by a 
switch engine and regular freight train. On 
arrival at destination the plant is side- 
tracked at some point convenient to the 
work and goes immediately to work. The 
outfit includes two melting kettles, sand 
drier, mixing machine, elevator, conveyors, 
boiler, engine and air compressor. 




Single Car Asphalt Plant Ready for Use 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



333 



HOW CAN THE WEAR ON LOCO= 

MOTIVE WHEEL TIRES BE 

DECREASED? 



PECULIAR MOTOR VEHICLE 
MACHINES 



In 1883 a locomotive drive wheel carried 
13,000 pounds on a 65-pound (per yd.) rail 
19,000 miles, wearing away one-sixteenth of 
an inch in thickness, while with the same 
loss, in 1896 the average wheel carried 20,- 
000 pounds on a 100-pound rail, 29,000 
miles. The reasons for this are: Improved 
steel, better shaped rails and wider rail 
head. But the weight per wheel now is 
three times that of 25 years ago, so that 
25,000 pounds per wheel, and high speed are 
wearing rails and tires more rapidly than 
ever. The question is, "What can be done 
in making the steel, to give longer life to 
the wheel tires?" 

"It has been clearly shown that heat 
treatment in the process of the manufacture 
of tires is far more important than slight 
difference in chemical composition, ' says the 
Railway Age. Experiment has proved that 
tires finished when too hot are not strong. 

It has been found that a coarse steel will 
give way under a pull more easily than a 
fine grained piece The inner particles do 
not seem to be well locked together. A fine, 
hard, tough steel Avill best stand a shock 
or strain, because it will pass the jar or 
strain on to. the neighboring parts. The last 
point is illustrated in rifle steel and metal 
used for heavy guns. Tires made of coarse 
metal, flake, while those of fine grain steel 
wear smooth. 

Concluding, it seems that coarse steel and 
methods of its manufacture are to blame for 
the rapid wear and breakage of locomotive 
tires. 



One of the important possessions in the 
Congo Free State, central Africa, belongs to 
Belgium. The transportation facilities are 




French Motor Plow for Use In Egypt 

limited to the Congo river and a few hun- 
dred miles of single track railway. The 
transportation of troops and their supplies 
to the interior has proved troublesome. To 
improve these conditions the King of Bel- 
gium has had built some 15-hp. motor cars, 
one of which is shown in an illustration 
from the Motor Age. The difficulty of se- 
curing gasoline is great, so the machines 
are steamers burning wood for fuel. Each 
car weighs 2,200 lbs., and will haul one ton 
at 12 miles an hour over rough roads. 

Another peculiar motor machine has been 
built in France for plowing in Egypt. This 
is a gasoline machine of 28 hp. which has 
a speed of 2 1 /> miles an hour drawing seven 
plows The plow will do the work of six 
teams, and the cost for gasoline is only 
$4.50 in Egypt. In this country the same 
amount of gasoline will cost only $1.35. 




$*&?%* 






A Belgian Motor Wagon In Africa 



334 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



SMALL TELEPHONE EXCHANGE 
WITHOUT OPERATORS 



ELECTRIC CURRENT OF 500,000 
VOLTS FAILS TO KILL 



In the town of Chagrin Falls, 0., an auto- 
matic telephone exchange has been in- 
stalled, one hundred patrons being able to 
use the system without the necessity of an 
operator. The telephone instrument used 
by each subscriber is shown in the cut In 





( CSL X \ ' 





Telephone Instrument Used by Subscribers to the 
Automatic Exchange 

using it the receiver is first taken down, 
the pointer is placed at the desired number 
of the dial and then released when immedi- 
ately the selector connects with the desired 
line. The exchange comprises a complete 
centralized battery system with all the 
features of the usual telephone exchange. 
At the central office the apparatus for each 
line consists of a 100-line selector with four 
relays and two consensers which are mount- 
ed on slanting shelves. The selector com- 
prises an insulated ring holding 100 pairs 
of line terminals. The connecting arm with- 
in is rotated by an electro- magnet. This 
automatic telephone exchange provides for 
both a day and night service and the cost 
of the service is of course notably reduced. 

■♦ ♦ » 

Buenos Aires, the best lighted city in the 
world, is to discard its 3,000 horse-drawn 
cabs for electric vehicles. 



Professor Elihu Thomson, of Lynn, Mass., 
before the Commercial Club of Boston on 
June 8, allowed a current of 500,000 volts of 
electricity to pass through his body and 
then, releasing himself from contact, stepped 
forth to laugh at his* horrified spectators. 
Sparks . and darts of fire flashed from the 
professor's body during the experiment, but 
he declares he suffered not the slightest dis- 
comfort nor injury. The reason 2,000 volts 
will electrocute, while 500,000 volts will not 
harm, Prof. Thompson explains, is that 
with the weaker current the nerves vibrate 
before the current and death results; but 
a current of a half million volts vibrates so 
quickly that it passes through the body be- 
fore the nerves are affected. 



ELECTRIC LIGHT IN HUMAN BODY 



The surgeon of today is no longer literally 
in the dark in his exploration of the cavities 
of the human body. Electrical science has 
come to his assistance and provided an 
electric light which can be inserted in the 
stomach, for instance, by insertion through 
the mouth and esophagus. It is not, of 
course, a large arc light such as are sus- 
pended at street corners, but a tiny incan- 
descent lamp, whose power is greatly re- 
duced by means of a transformer, from the 




For "Interior" Lighting 

ordinary office or house light. The lamp is 
inclosed in a small tube which prevents the 
glass globe, not much larger than a bean, 
from touching the flesh. A strong reflector 
assists in producing an intensely brilliant 
light. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



335 



THE "fHKASA" DISASTER 



After passing in safety through all the 
dangers which surrounded the Port Arthur 
blockade for months, and also escaping se- 
rious injury in the great sea battle which 



beam; drew 27 ft; had displacement of 15,- 
200 tons; 16,400 h. p.; speed 18.6 knots; was 
built in England in 1902. 



TELEPHONES FOR LOST ALPINE 
TRAVELERS 




On various parts of the famous St. Ber- 
nard Pass in the Alps the monks have 
erected huts for the benefit of lost travel- 
ers. Each hut is numbered and connected 
with the hospice by telephone. The lost 
traveler telephones to the monastery the 
number of the hut he has reached. The 
number is repeated to one of the trained 
dogs kept at the monastery and the dog 
immediately sets forth for the hut. 



The "Mikasa" 

closed the war, Admiral Togo's flagship, the 
"Mikasa," was destroyed by fire and explo- 
sion in the home harbor of Sasebo on Sep- 
tember 11. About midnight fire was dis- 
covered at the base of the mainmast, and 
in less than an hour spread to the after 
magazine, which exploded. The ship sank 
in shallow water and will be raised. 

Naval engineers say the ship could have 
been saved had the sea-cocks been opened 
and the vessel submerged. Probably the ex- 
tent of the fire was not realized by those 
on board. The fire was caused by electric 
wires. The ship was 400 ft. long; 75% ft. 



CRANKSHAFT INGOT WEIGHED 
126 TONS 



A single ingot of open-hearth steel, 
weighing 126 tons, was used to form the 
big crankshaft for one of the engines of 
a California gas engine electric station in- 
stallation. The crankshaft is a ninety-de- 
gree double-throw, 38 in. in diameter, and 
will support a fly-wheel weighing 130,000-lb. 

The engines of the installation will be the 
largest ever built. Each will indicate 5,333 
hp., the capacity required to drive a 4,000 
kilowatt generator with which they will be 
direct connected. The nearest approach to 
these engines are two at Hastings, Va., each 
of 4,500 horsepower capacity. 




Courtoiy Bothlohom Stoel Co- 



Open Hearth Steel Ingot Weighing 300,700 Lbs. 



336 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



PRIZE AUTOflOBILE DECORATION 



In a floral parade at Oconomowoc, Wis., 
recently, in which there were forty-five en- 
tries the prize was given the owner of the 
automobile shown in the illustration. The 



Still more effective was the float which 
took the prize in a parade at Syracuse, N. 
Y. A miniature battleship, well propor- 
tioned and faithful in its details even to the 




motor wagon was given the form of a sail 
boat. The Florist's Review says: "Thou- 
sands of Shasta daisies and pansies were 
used with trimmings of asparagus." 



Prize Automobile Decoration 

small boats, presented a very realistic ap- 
pearance. In order to support the bow and 
stern a single wheel was placed under each 
end; the forward wheel being steered from 




Prize Battleship Float 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



337 



the cabin. As the ship moved along the 
street with smoke pouring from its stacks, 
it presented a very business-like appear- 
ance, 

♦ » » 

LIGHT STATION CONSTRUCTED ON 
TERRIBLE "MILE ROCK" 



One of the most difficult and dangerous 
engineering feats recorded in lighthouse 
construction has been the erection of the 
new light station on the famous "Mile Rock," 
located just outside of the Golden Gate- 
San Francisco Harbor. This station has just 
been finished, after more than a year's work, 
at a cost to the government of more than 
$100,000. 

For the past half century, Mile Rock has 
been a standing* menace to all vessels en- 
tering, or departing from, the Bay of San 
Francisco. The rock stands three-eighths 
of a mile off the southern shore of the en- 
trance, and just ODe mile eastward from a 
line drawn from North Head across to the 
Cliff House beach. As the rock was too 
large to blow up, the government finally 
determined to beacon it. The very liberal 
appropriation of $100,000 was made in view 
of the fact that the difficulties of building 
this particular station were great, and the 
perils extreme. 

At mean tide the sharp and ragged rock 
jutted only 16 ft. above the surface of the 
heaving waters. At very high tide the points 
were entirely submerged. It was a mere 
rocky pivot exposed to the full force and 
fury of open sea, winds, and sweeping tidal' 
currents. Only 1.000 sq. ft. could be found 
on the rock after 'the rough edges were lev- 
eled off— around the ragged sides; and for 
the foundation but 704 sq. ft. were secured 
for the base. 

Over and around these ragged pinnacles 
was constructed a huge steel cylinder 42 ft. 
high, elliptical in shape, 40 ft. long, and 
25 ft. wide in the broadest place. This great 
cylinder-base was composed of steel plates 
2 ft. and 10 in. wide, and % in. thick, very 
strongly rivet* d together— boiler fashion. All 
the inside space was filled with concrete — 
nearly of pure cement. The point and sides 
of the rock jutted upward, and, uniting with 
the hardened cement, formed so many pow- 
erful and massive braces to hold the cylin- 
der foundation impregnably firm against the 
fury of gales and seas. Over 1,200 barrels 
of cement were required to form the 




The Beacon on Mile Rock 

foundation, and 60 tons of steel plates were 
used. Above the foundation was erected the 
main tower— rising 50 ft., and requiring 92 
tons additional steel. The total height of 
the station above mean sea level is 92 ft. 

All the work was done by sailors under 
the personal supervision of an engineer; for 
so great and constant were the perils of 
operating on the wave-swept rock that no 
regular landsmen could be found hardy 
enough to undertake the task. The mate- 
rials were all carried out on a little steam 
tender, and landed amid the greatest diffi- 
culties and dangers. Necessarily, the work 
progressed very tardily. It is a remarkable 
fact that no lives were lost, and no serious 
accidents occurred during the building of 
this navigation beacon. For many years 
the beaconing of this rocky pinnacle was 
deemed impossible, even by engineers. Its 
accomplishment must be recorded as a 



338 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



wonderful piece of marine engineering. It 
is an ocean monument to those who planned 
and were courageous enough to carry the 
work forward to completion. 

The top of the tower is surmounted by a 
third-order light. In the base the storage 
of provisions and fresh water are provided 
for. The fog signal machinery occupies the 
first story of the steel tower; the second is 
used by the keepers as a kitchen; the liv- 
ing and sleeping apartments are in the third 
story, and the fourth is the watch room. 
Surmounting the tower is the lens lantern, 
12 ft. high and 10 ft. in diameter. The 
stories are graduated from 11 ft. 6 in. to 
7 ft. 10 in. in height. The entrance to the 
lighthouse is through a door 10 ft. above 
the rock. Landing steps lead down into the 
water. Winding steps of cement lead up to 
the storeroom. The fog horn is operated by 
means of compressed air obtained by a 20-hp. 
oil engine operating the air compressors. 

This machinery, together with an engine 
for operating the derrick, which is used to 
hoist supplies landed at the station, is 
packed within the lower story of the steel 
superstructure. Communication with the 
shore is maintained by means of a cable 
so that the keepers can be in ' constant 
touch by telephone with their superiors. 

Engineers claim that the foundation can 
successfully defy the combined forces of 
seas, winds and tides. Some four years ago 
the large steamship "Rio de Janeiro," com- 
ing from the Orient with 200 passengers and 
a very valuable cargo, attempted to enter 
the harbor during a dark and foggy night. 
The vessel ran on a rock, and inside of 40 
minutes went down. More than two-thirds 
of the passengers were lost, and the vessel 
also. There is every reason to believe that 
the ill-fated steamer struck on Mile Rock. 



THE TELEMOBILOSKOP 



WHY POPCORN POPS 



Volatilization of the oil contained in the 
kernel, upon being heated, is given by tbe 
Department of Agriculture as the reason 
why popcorn pops. Popcorn differs from 
field corn in that it has a larger proportion 
of corneous element and a greater per cent 
of oil. The outer portion of the kernel of 
field corn is more porous than it is in pop- 
corn, also, and the oil escapes as it vola- 
tilizes. The great pressure exerted by the 
volatilized oil in popcorn causes a sudden 
explosion and the kernel turns wrong side 
out 



Locates Vessels in Foggy Weather, Reducing 
Danger of Collision. 

The telemobiloskop is a new nautical in- 
strument which enables the pilot of one ves- 
sel to locate the nearness: of another vessel in 
a fog, even though no signals are given. The 
instrument is operated by electricity, which 
all large ships now have means of produc- 
ing, and sends out sparks which form elec- 
trical waves. The electrical waves travel 
along the surface of the ocean until they 
strike a metal part of another ship, whence 
they are reflected back to their source, and 
are caught by a receiver, similar to those 
used in wireless telegraphy operation. 

The illustration shows the mechanism of 
the apparatus. Axle C is the carrier which 
is adjusted so that it always remains in the 




flechanism of the Telemobiloskop 



same vertical position. A large projecting 
box, moved by a machine, turns around this 
axle. The box stands on a high elevation, 
the mast perhaps, and slants toward the 
water. The inductorium of the sparks is at 
H. Two lenses, R, inside the box shape 
the electrical waves into a cylindrical body 
so that they travel compactly. 

The receiver is placed over the box and 
is separated from it by a metal plate so 
that it can take only returning waves. The 
exact distance to another vessel is ascer- 
tained by turning lenses R by means of 
handles W and Z so as to get the strongest 
reflection from metal parts of the other ves- 
sel, which the loudness of the indicator 
marks out. 

■» » » 

Oregon fir is destined to supplant Norway 
pine as a durable building material. Gov- 
ernment tests have lately established its 
superiority. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



339 



HOW MANILA ROPE IS MADE 



Pound for Pound as Strong as Steel==Old Method of Manufacture 
Couplings==Table of Technical Terms 



Putting it i 



No longer ago than 1881 it was stated as 
a notable fact that at the government rope 
walk at Boston ropes 170 fathoms (1,020 
feet) long could be turned out. The prim- 
itive method of rope manufacture that had 
been in use for 3,500 years was still em- 
ployed there. While other industries were 
being developed by the introduction of ma- 



spun was twisted into strands and the 
strands into rope, horsepower being em- 
ployed in the last operation. 

It was when one of the first Atlantic 
cables broke in mid-ocean and a rope 2,000 
fathoms (12,000 feet) long was required for 
grappling that the possibilities of machin- 
ery in this connection were first exploited. 




LourttBy *,. W. Hunt Co. 



Opening Bales of Manila Fibre 



chinery and the application of power the 
manufacture of rope remained a hand pro- 
cess. The rope walk at these plants con- 
sisted of an enclosure often more than 1,000 
feet long; the machinery was a wheel with 
a series of hooks on it placed at one end 
of the walk. The workman wrapped a 
bunch of the hemp fibre around his waist, 
attached some of the fibres to the hooks 
and while an assistant turned the wheel, he 
walked slowly backward, drawing out the 
proper number of fibres with one hand, com- 
pressing them with the other, twisting 
them into yarn as he went. The yarn thus 



Up to this time the longest rope manufac- 
tured was less than 200 fathoms long. Then 
John Good, a young workman in a rope 
walk, offered to build machinery from his 
own designs and with it turn out a rope 
of sufficient length for the purpose. The 
bold enterprise was carried out successfully, 
but it was not until 20 years later that the 
use of machinery became general and to this 
day a cordage works is called a "rope walk.'' 
In the modern manufacture of rope the 
bales of hemp (manila hemp being the 
strongest material used for rope) are opened 
and the fibre shaken apart lightly and 



340 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



placed in layers which are sprinkled lightly 
with kerosene oil. Animal oil would effect 
spontaneous combustion, but kerosene oil 
does not heat the fibre. The bales of hemp 
weigh about 270 lb. and hanks of fibre 10 
ft. 7 in. long have been received, though the 
ordinary run is less than 8 ft. 

The hemp is first passed over revolving 
cylinders having sharp steel teeth. This 
process is called "scutching" and its pur- 
pose is to straighten the hemp and re- 
move the coir, dirt or foreign matter of any 
nature. It is then combed into a continuous 
ribbon or sliver by passing through break- 
ers, after which it goes through spreading 
and drawing machines and comes out 
straight, even and ready to be wound on 
spindles and be spun. 

The spinning machine operates two spin- 
dles which move at 1,500 revolutions per 
minute and twists the fibre right-handed 





Cross Section of Three and Four-Strand Ropes 

into yarn. The yarn is about % in. in di- 
ameter and from 20 to 80 yarns are twisted 
in the opposite direction or "left hand" to 
form a strand. This is done by a machine 
called a "former," which has a circular Iron 
disk at the center of. which is erected a 
perpendicular shaft with a "head" or die 
at its end. Several bobbins full of yarn, 
the number being determined by the size 
the strand is to be, are spaced around the 
edge of the disk and the free end of each 
yarn is carried to the die, where they are 
twisted left hand by the revolving of the 
disk. As fast as twisted ■ the strand is 
wound off on a drum. Thus the length of 
the rope is not limited as in the old method. 
The strands, three or four, are twisted in 
the same way into rope, only in the oppo- 
site direction or right hand. 

The process may be thus briefly described, 
but in the actual manufacture, a deal of ex- 
pert knowledge is involved. There is a wide 
difference in the qualities of manila fibre 
and the material must be selected for the 
use to which the rope is to be put. Then 
there is the question of internal wear, easily 
illustrated by untwisting an old rope and 
noting the powdered fibre that drops out. 
Manufacturers use different means of pre- 
venting this. One firm lubricates the fibres 



with plumbago mixed with sufficient tallow 
to hold it in position. The tallow makes 
the rope partly water-proof and the lubri- 
cant fills up the hollows and uneven places 
until all the threads are lubricated. Then 
again the question of strains caused by twist- 
ing fibres, yarn and strands always in op- 
posite direction to the preceding twist must 
be considered as the strains must be care- 
fully balanced. A four-strand rope is more 
durable than a three-strand as it comes 
nearer forming a circle. A table of terms 
relating to cordage is gfven below: 

TECHNICAL WORDS RELATING TO 
CORDAGE. 

YARN. Fibres twisted together. 

MARLINE. Two yarns twisted together. 

THREAD. Two or more small yarns 

twisted together. 
STRING. The same as a thread but 

made of slightly larger 
yarns. 
STRAND. Three or more large yarns 

i twisted together. 

CORD. Several threads twisted to- 

gether. 
ROPE. Several strands twisted to- 

gether. 
HAT/SER. A large three-strand rope. 

CABLE. Three hawsers twisted left- 

handed together. 
SHROTJD-LAID. A rope of four strands with 

a heart. 
HAUL. To pull on a rope. 

TAUT. Drawn tight or strained. 

BIGHT. A loop in the rope. 

FALL. The rope in a hoisting tackle. 

KNOT. A loop or fastening with a 

rope. 
HITCH. Attaching a rope to an object. 

BEND. Attaching two ropes together 

or to an object. 
TACKLE. An assemblage of ropes and 

blocks. 
A rope is: 
LAID. By twisting strands together 

in making a rope. 
SPLICED. By joining to another rope by 

interweaving the strands. 
WHIPPED. By winding yarn or small stuff 

around the end. 
SERVED. When wound continuously 

with yarn or small stuff. 
PARCELED. By wrapping it with canvas. 

SEIZED. By binding two parts togeth- 

er by a yarn or small stuff. 
PAYED. When painted, tarred, or 

greased, to resist wet. 
The transmission of power by manila 
ropes has within recent years been dem- 
onstrated practical. It has been found that 
the rope is capable of transmitting large 
amounts of power, will run in any direc- 
tion, is smooth and quiet running, there is 
absence of electrical disturbance, its use is 
economical in first cost and in maintenance 
and accurate alignment of sheaves is un- 
necessary. .The coupling system of mount- 
ing ropes on pulleys is considered better 
than the band or tension pulley systems 
though the first cost of couplings is high. 
Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 show how ropes are spliced, 
and Figs. 5 and 6 show the method of splic- 
ing in a coupling. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



341 





Fig. 1. Unlaying the Strands 



Fig. 2. Butting the Ropes Together 





Fig. 3. Laying the Strands in Position 



Fig. 4. Tucking in the Ends 





Fig. 5. 



courtesy U. W. Hunt Co. 



Splicing in a Coupling 



Fig. 6. 



342 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



Manila rope, pound for pound, is as strong 
as steel. A bar of rolled steel 1 in. square 
and 1 ft. long weighs 3.33 lb. and has a 
breaking strength of 64,000 lb. A 1-in. 



rope with leather belting, it is found that a 
rnanila rope 1 in. in diameter is equal in 
driving power to a double leather belt 2% in. 
wide, each running at the same speed. 




Coupling Spliced in the Rope Ready to be Put on the Drive 




Courtesy 0. W. Hunt Co. 



Coupling Ready for Use 



manila rope weighs 0.34 lb. per lineal foot 
and has a breaking strength of 7,160 lb. De- 
duced from this, the strength of a rope equal 
in weight to the bar of steel 1 in. square is 
(7100x3.33)-: -0.34=69,000 lb. Comparing 



A knot and a' splice in rope are always its 
weak points and in all installations where 
rope plays an important part these points 
should be in the hands of one who under- 
stands the matter thoroughly. 



USE OF ACETYLENE IN FRANCE 



14,500 Tons of Carbide Used in One Year 



The use of acetylene in France is decided- 
ly on the increase. There are now 40,000 in- 
stallations for various purposes in use in 
that country and 112 towns, having a popu- 
lation up to 5,000, where it is used for muni- 
cipal lighting. 

"In the six years from 1896 to 1902," says 
Engineering (London), "there were no less 
than 2,350 patents dealing with the produc- 
tion and utilization of acetylene granted in 
France." The government places installa- 
tions of this kind, where the capacity of the 
gasometer does not exceed 35.3 cubic feet, in 
the third class of risks, and the rather strin- 
gent laws in regard to them are not strictly 
enforced, as there have been so few acci- 
dents from them. Insurance companies 
charge no extra premium because acetylene 
is used, provided that the gas producers and 
the store of carbide are placed outside the 
insured buildings. Where they are placed 
inside, a carefully ventilated room is fitted 
up for the purpose and the carbide must be 
kept in a metallic chest in a dry place. In- 
surance premiums are much higher in these 
instances, consequently the latter arrange- 
ment is not often employed 



In the towns where acetylene is used for 
lighting, the pipes are mostly of lead, di- 
minishing in diameter from 3.14 inches at 
the gas generator by stages to 0.51 inch at 
private dwellings and street lights. Street 
lamps usually contain but one burner. They 
are very troublesome to clean and recharge. 
Gas is sold to a municipality at 57 cents per 
1,000 cubic feet and to private consumers at 
67 cents per 1,000 cubic feet. 

The consumption of carbide in France for 
1902-3 was 14,500 tons. Figures for a later 
period could not be obtained. Aside from 
lighting purposes, acetylene is being used for 
miners' lamps, oxi-actelyenic blowpipes 
yielding a temperature of about 5,432 de- 
grees Fahr., soldering irons of many vari- 
eties, several types of stoves and other ap- 
pliances. 

In Germany the increase in acetylene in- 
stallations is even more marked. The price 
to consumers is less than in France, and 
where it is installed two houses out of every 
eleven take the gas, and each house piped 
averages 8% burners. There are about 8,000 
installations of all capacities in active oper- 
ation in Germany at the present time. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 343 

THE LARGEST DREDGING PUMPS EVER BUILT 




Suction Dredging Pumps that Handle 6,000 Cu. Yd. Material per Hour, Each 



Two large cast-iron dredging pumps, each 
having a 48-in. discharge opening and cap- 
able of handling 6,000 cu. yd. of sand and 
gravel per hour under favorable conditions 
are used for deepening the inlet to the New 
York harbor. They are the largest pumps 
of the kind ever built and are each mounted 
on a hydraulic dredge of the hopper type, — 
i. e., having a number of large hoppers built 
into the hull. 

Each pump is 16 ft. in outside diameter, 
weighs 60,000 lbs. and is driven by a hori- 
zontal cross compound engine of 1,600 h p. 
capacity. The pump suction is equipped 
with a 48-in. suction pipe extending from 



the hull down to the bottom to be dredged, 
and on the end of this suction pipe there is 
a suitable inlet nozzle, so made that the 
dredge can either lay stationary or steam 
along slowly while the sand and gravel are 
sucked in through the suction nozzle. The 
material picked up by the suction is deliv- 
ered by the pump into the hoppers in the 
dredge boat, the water overflowing over the 
side of the dredge. After these hoppers are 
filled the dredging operation stops and the 
boat is steamed out into deep water where 
the hoppers are dumped, after which it 
again returns to the bank on which it is 
dredging. 




Plan of Suction Dredge 



344 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



CIRCULAR FLOATING FORT 



At the recent meeting of the Society of 
Naval Architects, in New York, A. P. Stokes 
submitted plans for a semi-globular naval 
battery. While the floating fort would be 
able to travel slowly under its own steam, 
it would need a tow for any considerable 
distance. Mr. Stokes says: 

"I was led to this invention partly by 
seeing, while yachting in the Caribbean, 





^^ ,J±PFtrt£^-) 












V \ l~ 1 ~ 


-1 




^^7^ 




— Kl 




«t=i 









iT£BM/l 


fpn ' 


i ' 'f'V^pfi ' 




ft 


f 


/ 






' 







Proposed Floating Fort 

a remarkable little island called Diamond 
Pock, one mile off the southwest coast 
of Martinique. It is about 800 feet 
square, 574 feet high, and with precipi- 
tous sides. Diamond Rock was formerly 
rated as a sloop-of-war on the books of the 
British Admiralty. In January, 1804, Sir 
Samuel Hood laid his seventy-four gun ship 
"Centaur" close alongside this rock, to the 
top of which he made fast a hawser on 
which was a traveller. He then hauled three 
long twenty-fours and two eighteens to the 
top and left them in charge of Lieutenant 
Maurise, with one hundred and twenty men 
and boys, with ammunition, provisions and 
water. The crew built a cistern. For fifteen 
months this novel sloop of war did great 
injury to the French shipping going to and 
from the neighboring harbor, now called 
Fort-de-France, until June 1st, 1805, when 
she surrendered for want of powder, to a 
French squadron of two seventy-fours, a 
corvette, a schooner and eleven gunboats. In 
this engagement the stone sloop-of-war, 
Diamond Rock, killed and wounded seventy 



men, and destroyed three gunboats, with a 
loss to herself of two killed and one 
wounded." 

The cut shows battery planned for 180 
feet diameter at base with weight of armor 
equal to 48 per cent, of its displacement. 



IRON CURTAINS IN GERMAN 
THEATERS 



Iron curtains for separating stage and 
auditorium have been installed in nearly all 
German theaters. The curtains are operated 
by hydraulic, electric or manual power. An 
expert, criticizing them, says that they often 
fail to move when it is desired to reassure 
the audience and that the rattling noise 
alarms the people. At the Berlin Opera 
House on one occasion the iron curtain was 
dropped between acts, but could not be 
raised again and the performance was 
abandoned. 

The possession of two iron curtains may 
be made obligatory so that one will act in 
case the other fails, or if this is impossible, 
a second curtain of asbestos with an iron 
filling may be used. The expert advises a 
space of 39 to 58 in. between the curtains, 
supplied with ventilators at the top so that 
smoke and gases cannot penetrate to the 
auditorium. The expense for these curtains 
would be less than for hiring an increased 
number of theater firemen. 



LABOR-SAVING TROLLEY LINE 
STRINGER 



On the principle of the track building cars 
used on the steam roads in track construc- 
tion, the Street Railway Journal describes 
a plan for stringing trolley wires. This, of 
course, contemplates the previous construc- 
tion of the track. The trolley wire is strung 
out alive, the motor car, for which a snow 
plow can be used, taking current from the 
overhead wire. 




Strings Its Own Trolley Wire 



BURNING CARTRIDGES NOT DANGEROUS 



Startling Demonstration==The Men Who Make Ammunition Fearlessly Stand Near 
While 68,000 Rounds Are Consumed in Fierce Fire 



To prove their assertion that cartridges 
and shells may be consumed in roaring 
flames without danger to bystanders, a com- 
mittee of ammunition makers stood within 
20 ft. of a roaring fire in the midst of which 
were 68,000 rounds of the explosives. The 
tests lasted 30 minutes and no one was hurt. 

This startling exhibition was made before 
the convention of the International Asso- 
ciation of Fire Engineers, at DulUth, to 
prove the claim that firemen need not hesi- 
tate to come within working distance of a 
burning building containing cartridges and 
shells. 

The demonstration was on account of the 
contemplated increase in insurance rates on 
buildings containing ammunition, such as 



hardware stores, etc. Previous to the fire, 
the following statement was made: 

"Ammunition in a fire does not explode 
simultaneously. We make this statement 
advisedly and emphatically after many 
years' experience. Gunpowder in bulk, that 
is to say, in kegs, will explode with force. 
One keg exploding mas'- tear open the ad- 
jacent kegs and the flash of fire from the 
first communicate to the second, and that 
in turn to the next,' with such rapidity that 
the explosion is practically simultaneous. 
At first thought there would appear to be 
no reason why ammunition should not act 
in the same way, but as a "matter of fact, 
it does not. An exploding cartridge has not 
sufficient force to tear open the adjacent 




Firemen Extinguishing the Fire at a Distance of 20 Feet During Rapid Discharge 

of Cartridges 

345 



346 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



cartridge and therefore cannot communi- 
cate Are to the powder charge of its neigh- 
bor. Each cartridge in the fire explodes in- 
dividually, and explodes when its particu- 
lar primer is heated to the flashing point, 
but the flash from this cartridge cannot set 
off the adjacent cartridge. Consequently, 
instead of having a simultaneous explosion, 
we have a series of explosions of the in- 
dividual cartridges, and when there is a 
large quantity of ammunition burning these 
explosions follow in rapid succession, 
sounding like rapid musketry fire. 

"The danger from flying fragments of ex- 
ploding cartridges is by no means a serious 
matter. The cartridge shell unsupported 
by the gun chamber readily bursts at the 
first indication of pressure, and this allows 
the gases to escape at a low pressure. The 
escaping gas expends its energy in tearing 
open the shell rather than in throwing the 
bullet, and as there is nothing to restrict 
the escaping gas, it has but little propul- 
sive force. Frequently the heads of the 
cartridges are torn off and thrown some lit- 
tle distance, but the bullets scarcely ever 
fly. In other words, the heavier parts of 
the cartridge remain behind and only the 
lighter parts are thrown out, and they are 
thrown with no force or velocity; in fact, 
a fireman may keep well beyond the range 
of fragments thrown from the fire and still 
be easily within working distance and as 
close as the heat of the fire would permit." 

The Western Fireman, whose editor was 
a close witness, states that for the test a 
frame building was constructed, in which 
was placed 68,000 rounds of ammunition. 
The cartridges ranged from 22 calibre to 
50-110 high velocity kind. Also shot shells 
loaded with black and smokeless powder, 
and rifle and pistol cartridges of various 
kinds. The house was made as combustible 
as possible with a chimney on the roof ex- 
tending 6 ft. above. The building was then 
filled with excelsior and fine dry wood and 
set on fire, and to insure a hot, rapid fire, 
5 gallons of kerosene was poured on the 
mass. The ammunition had been unpacked 
from the wooden shipping cases and re- 
mained in pasteboard boxes, just as it is 
displayed in a store. 

At the end of twenty minutes half the 
ammunition was destroyed, and the firemen 
tore some boards from the side of the house 
and put out the fire. The test proved all 
the ammunition makers claimed. Several 
persons who approached within twenty feet 
of the fire were struck by flying fragments 
of cartridges, but in no case was the velocity 



of the pieces sufficient to cause discom- 
fort. In other words the bursting of tne 
cartridges was not unlike the popping open 
of corn or chestnuts when heated. 

The exhibition was conducted by the 
Winchester Repeating Arms Company, the 
Union Metallic Cartridge Company, the 
United States Cartridge Company, and the 
Peters Cartridge Company. 

■#-•-* 

AUTO TRACK RACING TO CEASE 

Indications are that the auto track racing 
will be abandoned, in this country at least, 
so far as the better class of people are con- 
cerned. One fatality after another of en- 
thusiastic auto men has brought about the 
result. 

Ex-Chairman Temple, of the American 
Automobile Association, states the case 
concisely as follows: "I don't believe in 
the racing game anyway. I can see no 
utility in it. It does not demonstrate any- 
thing of value to the true automobile sport 




Motor Age 

"Toying With Death" 

or to the industry. The mere matter of 
speed does not need demonstration in that 
way. Every one knows that automobiles 
can be built to run faster than they can be 
driven with safety, so what is the use of 
such contests." 

This sentiment finds echo from prominent 
auto club men all oyer the country and will 
doubtless result in action. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



347 



AUTOMOBILE COMBINATION CHEMICAL FIRE ENGINE 

AND HOSE WAGON 



A new invention in the line of fire protec- 
tion apparatus is a combination chemical 
fire engine and hose wagon using steam for 
its motive power and always ready to start 
at the sound of the alarm, merely upon the 
motorman mounting to his seat and opening 
first the fuel valve and then the steam 
throttle. 

The combination wagon is built with an 



diameter with 4 in. solid rubber tires, pro- 
vided with bolt head and protecting flanges. 
The machine is very strong, capable of 
maintaining uniform speed on long runs, 
can be stopped quickly and is declared to 
be cheaper, all items considered, than the 
horse-drawn combinations. New London, 
Conn., is the first city to install one of these 
machines. 




"Always Ready to Start" 



iron body on a channel steel frame and the 
body is mounted on four elliptic springs. 
The wheels are small and rubber-tired. The 
machine has capacity for 1,000 ft. of 2% in. 
cotton rubber-lined hose, has a 35-gal. chem- 
ical cylinder on each side fully fitted up, 
and the equipment throughout is large and 
complete. 

The fire-tube design of boiler is used, be- 
cause of its great reserve power, useful in 
climbing hills or traveling over rough roads. 
When the apparatus is in motion on the 
street, gasoline is the fuel used, and at the 
engine house steam pressure is maintained 
by a gas burner. The gasoline burner is 
built entirely of steel and is controlled by 
regulators. Two engines, working indepen- 
dently, are connected, one to each rear 
wheel, for driving the machine. These en- 
gines are of the double-cylinder type, high- 
speed and double-acting. 

The running gear has an 8-ft. base and 
56-in. tread. The wheels are 36 in. in 



CLAY PRODUCTS A GREAT IN- 
DUSTRY 



There are in this country 6,069 concerns 
engaged in converting clay into manufac- 
tured products; the average output for a 
year being 521,589; the total value amount- 
ing to $13i, 000,000 for twelve months. Of 
this the greater part was brick and tile, 
valued at $105,000,000. The leading produc- 
ing states in their order are, Ohio, Pennsyl- 
vania, New Jersey, Illinois and New York. 
Ohio shows a record of over $25,000,000. 

The average price throughout all the 
states was for common brick, of which 8,- 
665,000 thousands were made, $5.97 per M.; 
paving brick sold for an average of $10.28. 

Sand-lime bricks now seem to be con- 
sidered a success; 57 plants earned $463,- 
000.' The rapid increase in the use of 
cement blocks is likely to reduce the vol- 
ume of clay products, or at least to cur- 
tail their previous yearly increase. 



348 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



FREIGHT AND PASSENGER COL* 
LISION 



The effect of a head-on collision which re- 
cently occured on the Nickel Plate road, 
near Cleveland, is vividly portrayed in the 
illustrations. Twelve persons were killed 
and many more injured; the greatest harm 




Telescoped 

was done to those in the smoker which was 
telescoped. A fast passenger train running 
50 miles an hour ran into a freight train 
which was standing still. Failure of the 
freight crew to obey orders and further 
neglect in nagging the flier caused the acci- 
dent. Engineer Poole of the passenger re- 



fused to jump, was caught in the wreck and 
slowly scalded to death before the eyes of a 
helpless crowd. 

♦ * » 

TRANSPORTATION OF BANANAS 



One company alone imported 26,000,000 
bunches of bananas in a single year, re- 
quiring 72 steamers. The transportation 
of the fruit is peculiar; it must not get too 
warm or it decays, nor too cold or it will 
never ripen, it being always shipped green. 
The latest' improvement is the erection of 
cooling sheds, into which an entire train is 
run at one time, and cold air is pumped 
into the tops of the cars, thus reducing the 
temperature to exactly the degree desired. 
Tn winter warin air will be used. The 
blower has a capacity of 50,000 cu. ft. per 
minute, and an electric alarm in each cat- 
rings a gong when the proper temperature 
is reached.— Condensed from Ice and Re- 
frigeration, Chicago. 



SECRET TELEPHONE EXCHANGE 



An electrical expert has invented and put 
in practical operation, a telephone exchange 
in which the hello girl cannot listen to the 
conversation. Tlie next encroachment on 
official perquisites will be a postal card 
which cannot be read en route. The sys- 
tem of switchboard wiring by which this is 
accomplished is said not to be specially 
complicated. 




'The Passenger Train Was Running 50 niles An Hour' 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 

FAN=DRIVEN ICE VEHICLE 



349 




The "Aero=Motor"-=An English Ice Craft that Will be Tested During the Coming Winter 



Motor ice yachts and ice vehicles of all 
types will, beyond doubt^ create great in- 
terest during the coming winter. Among the 
many machines which will be tested is an 
English device called an "aero-motor," and 
will utilize an idea tried in this country 
several years ago — that of propelling the 
sledge by means of a revolving fan or screw. 



The fan used in the English machine is 
four-bladed, is driven by a gasoline engine 
and may be attached to either a motor-car 
or to a sled. The inventor, J. Bruce Mac- 
Duff, expects great things of his machine 
and suggests that the aero-motor sleigh 
may supplant dogs for use in Arctic and 
Antartic explorations. 



SUPERINTENDENTS SHOULD SUPERINTEND 



It is of the highest value to have a super- 
intendent who possesses the practical 
knowledge and experience to do any piece 
of work which comes into his shop. To 
have him take oft" his coat and do the work 
except in the case of some unusual thing 
where he does so to show his men how, is 
not considered advisable. 

In a paper read before an association of 
foremen the superintendent of motive 
power of the C. & N. W. Ry. says: 

."You men have no business to have your 
coats off when on duty in your shops un- 
less you are warm. You have no business 
to take the tools out of a workman's hands 



to do his work. Your business is to secure 
results from the other men's work. If I 
find that a foreman boiler maker on my 
road is doing the work that his men ought 
to do I begin to think that he had better 
keep using the hammer and chisel." 

Ability to do things is all right; the do- 
ing of them is another matter. Proprie- 
tors make a mistake when they allow or 
expect a superintendent to work with his 
hands when he ought to be working with 
his head. It's an extraordinary man who 
can do both successfully at the same time, 
and such men do not remain superintend- 
ents very long. 



350 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



GRANITE COLUMNS WITH STEEL 
CENTERS 



Unique Combination of a San Francisco Architect 



The Merchants Exchange new building in 
San Francisco possesses a remarkable fea- 
ture, which so far as we can learn is the 
first of its kind. The massive granite 
pillars which support the great building are 
hollow and contain solid steel columns. 




Steel=Centered Granite Columns 40 Peet High 

This building is fourteen stories high; 
the two lower stories are of granite and 
the other twelve of very handsome pressed 
brick On each side of the main entrance 
are two enormous fluted granite pillars. At 
the base each pillar is 6 ft. in diameter; 
they taper slightly and are 5 ft. across at 
the top; each being 40 ft. high. 

Before the massive and shapely columns 
were put in position, when the great build- 
ing had reached the first story, both the 
contractors and architect concluded that 
they should be strengthened in some man- 
ner. Massive though the granite pillars 
would be, yet the weight they were required 
to support was enormous. 

To increase the strength it was .deter- 
mined to build the pillars in short sections 
and to bore out a hole in each section 16 in. 
in diameter. This long hole of 40 ft. was to 
contain a solid steel column 16 in. ia 
diameter. It proved a slow, tedious, and 
painstaking task to cut a hole through the 
blocks of granite. This was accomplished 



by means of a circular saw, the core be- 
ing "trepanned." 

The cutting was done with the utmost 
precision; so very accurate that the sections 
fitted together with the utmost nicety, the 
flutings being perfect. As each section was 
bored out it was lifted by a derrick and 
fitted over the steel column. Whatever lit- 
tle space was left between the steel pillar 
and its granite casement was filled with 
liquid cement. This, hardening, made one 
solid mass. 

The two columns were then placed in 
position, and the building proceeded. Each 
pillar contains 13 sections, the joints being 
united with cement. 

That the building has sufficient support 
is not denied, though some architects ques- 
tion the utility of the plan, claiming that 
it is extremely difficult to divide the load 
between steel and granite, the resistance 
of the twc not being equal. "One or the 
other is really carrying the load," says a 
prominent Chicago architect, "although the 
steel center undeniably holds the circular 
stone sections that compose the pillar in 
place." 

♦ * » 

ARMY MOTOR WAGONS WITH 
WOODEN WHEELS 



Built strictly for business and with no 
consideration for the comfort of the passen- 
gers is true of the new army motor wagons 
built for France. However, they carry great 
loads at a speed of 15 miles an hour on good 
roads, and are guaranteed not to stampede 
under fire. The latest type have wooden 




Army Motor Wagon 

wheels with immense spokes and wide steel 
tires, which meet the approval of military 
men as safer than any form of rubber tires. 
The Motor Age says the steel tired wheels 
proved good hill climbers even in the mud. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



351 



ZIRCONIUM, NEW FILAMENT 



CEMENT BLOCK CIRCULAR SILO 



A new filament for incandescent lamps is 
produced by submitting oxides 'of a mate- 
rial called zirconium and magnesium at a 
high temperature to the action of hydrogen, 
then pulverizing the resultant alloy and 
adding a cellulose solution which trans- 
forms it into a plastic and homogeneous 
mass. From this, mass the filaments are 
drawn, 50,000 to the pound of raw mate- 
rial. The zirconium lamps require current 
of only 37 volts and three lamps can be 
placed in series across the usual 110- volt cir- 
cuit. Several filaments in one bulb are used 
for high candle power lamps. 



MAPS OF RIVER BEDS 



The foundations for a great bridge of 
dam are important essentials, which, like 
the engineers and firemen on a ship are not 
seen and seldom appreciated. Before the 
stately structure can span the chasm or 
stream the foundations must be laid deep, 




Boats for Drilling 

and sure, and lasting. There's a lesson here 
for every young man, but we are writing 
about dams and things— not preaching. 

Weeks and months, sometimes even years, 
must be spent in studying the sand or rock 
beneath the water. Recently the govern- 
ment had occasion to learn the exact con- 
dition of the river bed of the Ohio for a 
mile and a half, near Parkersburg, W. Va. 
Scores of borings were made, each one fur- 
nishing its "core" from which exact maps 
were made showing exactly the character 
of the river bottom, and of the rock be- 
neath to a considerable depth. 

The illustration, from the Gas Engineer, 
shows the boats used in the sounding, the 
drills being let down into the water from 
the sides of the boats, and operated by 
gas engines. 



The latest in the silo line is the hand- 
some structure shown in the illustration. 
The following details are condensed from 
Hoard's Dairyman: 

The silo is 29 ft. in height and 16 ft. in 




Cement Silo 

diameter and is figured to hold 115 tons. 
Its cost is $360. It is constructed of hollow 
cement blocks molded to the desired curve. 
The form and method of tying the blocks 
together so as to resist the lateral pressure, 
is shown in another cut. 

So far as we can judge, this is, in many 
respects, a model silo. If it proves to be 
all the designer and owner of it anticipate, 
under the test of time, it solves the problem 
of a cheap, safe and indestructible silo. 
The cost per ton of storage capacity is cer- 
tainly reasonable. The device for strength- 
ening the blocks appears to be sufficient. 
When laid up the notches in the ends of 
the blocks are filled with soft cement, 
which helps materially to make the wall 
strong. 




End View of Cement Blocks, Showing the Curve 
and Method of Applying the Iron Fasteners 



352 ENCYCLOPEDIA 

CANAL BOATS WITH LOADS ELEVATED 75 FEET 



Unique English Elevator Saves 12 Locks= 
Very Cheap to Operate 




Lower Level Canal. Showing Lifting Cradles 



An apparatus has been constructed at 
Foxton, England, which transports boats of 
all sorts from one canal to another seventy- 
five feet higher, without the use of locks, 
twelve of which would be required to raise 
a boat that distance. 

Two docks with reservoirs of water are 
placed at the edge of the canals, one at the 
foot and the other at the top of an incline. 
Upon this slope are laid two tracks, each 
track composed of four rails. On these 
travel two cars for transporting the boats, 
one mounting while the other descends, be- 
ing drawn by steel cables which run in con- 
duits. The cars are, in fact, immense mov- 
able tubs formed of steel plates, well braced, 
and mounted upon sixteen pairs of strong 
wheels each. At either end of these travel- 
ing docks are sluice gates moved by hy- 
draulic pressure. The power plant is in- 
stalled at the top of the incline which is 
built of solid masonry. 

When a boat is ready to be transferred 
the car is submerged, one of the sluice gates 
at its end is opened and the boat sails into 
the metal dock with all its freight and 



appurtenances just as it floated in the canal. 
The gates are then closed and the boat is 
ready for its journey on the rails. When 
the other movable dock has been loaded in 
the same way one huge tub with its float- 
ing load is drawn up while the other carry- 
ing the second boat descends, thus, the 
weights being equalized, the cost of trans- 
ferring the two boats is no more than to 
handle one alone. In order to launch the 
boats it is only necessary to open the sluice 
gates after the car has been again sub- 
merged, when they float out into the canal 
and resume their voyage. The whole opera- 
tion, as previously mentioned, takes only 15 
minutes. 

The cost of operating tbis plant is quite 
insignificant. The boats are small, but the 
traffic has averaged a total of 6,000 tons 
handled each 12 hours; this cost only $6.40 
for labor, fuel, oil and repairs. These trav- 
eling docks will accommodate canal boats 
up to 53 tons. • 

From 190 to 200 boats of that class was 
a fair average number during 12 hours 
without crowding, not counting canoes, 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



353 



motor-yachts and pleasure boats of all sorts 
which were transported during the same 
period. 

To what extent it might be possible or 
practicable to enlarge the Foxton method is 
not yet known. If it could be adapted to 
large work such as the transport of great 
ocean vessels or a battleship, it would mean 
the saving of several years in time and a 
great many million dollars in money in the 



concerned, in a few minutes more than eleven 
hours, and it is not beyond possibilities that 
100 miles an hour may be achieved. When 
this is done a man could leave New York 
at 9 o'clock in the morning, go to Chicago, 
spend an hour there, and be back in New 
York at 6 o'clock the next morning. 

Many experts anticipate a return to the 
longitudinal system of track support, which 
will doubtless be in the form of a great 




Upper Level CanaU-Boats 

completion of the Panama canal. The ques- 
tion of levels and locks would then cut no 
particular figure, as there could be several 
levels, thus saving a vast amount of cutting 
and excavating. 

•» • » 

RAILROAD TRACK OF THE FUTURE 

Increase of speed in the movement of 
passenger and freight trains seems to come 
in cycles of a few years each. It is not so 
many years ago that 29 hours were required 
to cover the 1,000 miles between Chicago 
and New York. Then the time was reduced 
to 24 hours, next to 20 hours and finally to 
18 hours. When the electric motor replaces 
the steam locomotive for passenger trains 
this time will again be considerably re- 
duced, but in all probability not until a 
radical change is made in track construc- 
tion. 

The high speed track of the future will 
be laid on longitudinal supports, instead 
of cross ties, and the foundation will be 
much deeper and more solid than is pos. 
sible with wooden cross ties. 

The New York Central is to have an 
electric locomotive of 2,200 h. p. which will 
be capable of hauling a heavy passenger 
train at 90 miles an hour. As it would 
have no occasion to stop for fuel or water, 
and seldom for other reasons, it will be 
seen that a road electrically equipped be- 
tween Chicago and New York could make 
the run, so far as motive power is 



Proceeding on Journey 

beam of concrete which in turn will rest 
upon a support more solid than dirt. 

In the early days of railroads in England, 
Germany, and even this country, the longi- 
tudinal system was employed, though by 
no means as substantial as is required 
with the mammoth locomotives and heavy 
sleeping cars of today. The increasing 
scarcity of wood for ties will also contrib- 
ute toward a radical change in track con- 
struction. 

The Engineering News, a railroad au- 
thority, says: "An engineer would never 
design an important building and support 
it on wooden blocks bedded a few inches 
below the ground surface; and he would 
not consider the. case much better if stone 
or concrete blocks were substituted for 
wooden. To make a permanent support for 
railway track we must carry our founda- 
tion course down deeper, just as we would 
a building foundation. But it is practically 
impossible with the cross-tie system to 
make. the foundation much deeper than the 
thickness of the present wooden ties, for 
the trackmen could not reach under the ties 
to tamp them if the ties were, say, 12 to 
16 inches in depth. There is not room 
enough between the ties to permit this; 
and it is, of course, out of the question to 
space the ties farther apart. All this points 
directly to the replacement of cross-ties with 
longitudinals whenever a really permanent 
system of track foundations replaces the 
present 'mud-sill' system." 



354 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



THREE ACRES OF ROCK BLOWN UP 



Henderson's Point, Piscataqua River, Demolished by Forty Tons of Dynamite* 
Clearing the Channel to the Portsmouth Navy Yard 



A short time ago Henderson's Point was 
a big ledge of rock jutting out into the 
Piscataqua river and forming a sharp turn 
in the swift current, so that none of the 
larger warships could pass up the channel 
to the new dry-dock at Battery, Maine. To- 
day Henderson's Point lies a great mass of 
loose debris, which is being rapidly removed 
by powerful dredges. Forty tons of 75 per- 
cent dynamite were used to reduce the 
35,000 cubic yards of rock forming Hender- 



below the Point a submarine drilling boat 
was used for drilling holes where the shal- 
low water began. The rock was blasted off 
into deep water and left for the time being. 
After three months' work, scows were sub- 
stituted for the boat, and in all 800 cubic- 
yards of rock were removed in this way. 

The center of the Point removed, the 
work of putting in long holes for the big 
charge was begun. These holes were run 
from the edge of the "rim" at intervals of 




Battery of Air Drills Inside Coffer-Dam 



son's Point to this condition and the entire 
project will cost the United States govern- 
ment $750,000. Since, in 1885, Hell Gate 
channel, East river, New York, was cleared 
of its dangerous rocks, there has been no 
blast to compare with this one. The Hell 
Gate blast, however, extended over an area 
of nine acres, and to break up the 270,000 
cubic yards of rocks, 120 tons of "rend- 
rock" powder and 20 tons of dynamite were 
used. 

The difficulties attending the destruction 
of Henderson's Point were great. The use 
of a coffer-dam had been intended, most of 
the work to be in the open and proceeding 
from the channel toward the shore, but 
the swift current wrecked the strong coffer- 
dam constructed and then one was built on 
top of the "rim." 

The core was first excavated and just 



6 to 10 ft. and at a dip from horizontal of 
1% in. to the foot. The holes were from 
50 to 80 ft. deep. Eight drills, having cylin- 
ders 5% in. in diameter by 8-in. stroke, 
were used. The use of tripods or columns 
for mounting them was impossible under 
the conditions. Instead they were bolted 
to a heavy timber framework which was 
loaded down with stone. A series of holes 
were bored and the framework moved 
along. The holes at the start were 5 in. in 
diameter and tapered to 2 in., and the 
shortest time required for drilling one of 
them was 12 hours. The drills were ope- 
rated by compressed air. 

The great explosion caused no injury to 
persons or damage to property, beyond a 
few broken window panes, though water 
and debris were thrown to a heignt of 
300 ft. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



355 



HOW AN AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER WORKS 



Inactive for Years, Perhaps, It Springs Into Action When Needed 



We have had several requests for a de- 
scription of the automatic sprinkler— a de- 
vice which will remain inactive for months 
and years at a time, and then in an instant 
when Are breaks out in some remote room, 
drenches the compartment with water and 
subdues, even if it may not entirely extin- 
guish the fire. Many a time a fire has been 
extinguished at the start, which if un- 
checked for a few minutes would have 
grown into a terrible conflagration. 

The system is in reality a very simple 
affair, consisting of a big tank of water 
placed higher than the building, connected 
to parallel pipes extending along the ceil- 
ing of each room. These pipes are ordina- 
rily 8 or 10 ft. apart, while at intervals of 
10 ft. a sprinkler is attached to the pipe. 
By this arrangement at least one sprinkler 
is placed over each floor space of 8 x 10 ft. 

The sprinkler itself consists of a metal 
frame with two bronze levers holding a 
bronze cap over the opening in the pipe. 
These levers are connected by a small link 
of solder, designed to melt at a tempera- 
ture of 165 deg. As soon as a fire starts 
the hot gases and smoke rise to the ceil- 
ing, melt the solder, the levers are released 
and drop, there is no longer anything to 
hold the cap in place, it flies out, forced by 
the pressure of the water, and the sprinkler 
is busy. In order to spread the stream in 
all directions and divide it into large drops, 
a deflector is provided at the top of the 
frame. All these working parts will be 
clearly understood from the illustration 
(Fig. 1). The water will continue to run 
until some one shuts off the supply or the 
tank runs dry. 



There are two sprinkler systems— the wet, 
in which the pipes are constantly filled 
with water; and the dry, in which there is 
no water in the pipes except when one or 
more sprinklers open. In the dry system 




Pig. 1=-Sprinkler Head 

the pipes are filled with air compressed to 
about 30 lbs., which holds back a valve 
placed in the large water main leading 
from the tank. 

Sprinklers are made to act at different 
temperatures as desired, from 165 deg. up to 





Other Types of Sprinkler Heads 



356 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



360 deg. This is accomplished by using 
links of various degrees of hardness. Eacli 
fuse link bears the date when it was put 
in, and its melting temperature. 



A LAMPLE5S LIGHTHOUSE 








Sprinkler in Action 

Modifications of the above system include 
underground cisterns, instead of elevated 
tanks, or connection to city mains, in which 
case automatic pumps are required whicb 
start pumping the instant a sprinkler opens. 
A sprinkler, system is quite expensive to 
install, but secures reduced insurance 
charges. 



POMPEII'S WATERWORKS 



A most complete system of water works, 
says Professor Kelsey, Ann Arbor, Mich., has 
recently been unearthed in Pompeii. This 
system has been so well preserved that even 
at the present day it is possible to turn wa- 
ter on and it will flow through the pipes as 
freely as when that city was in the height 
of its prosperity over 1,800 years ago. 



A lighthouse that has neither lamp nor 
keeper, yet throws out a light at night that 
may be seen far and wide upon the sur- 
rounding water, is located at Arnish Rock, 
Stornoway Bay, in the Hebrides, Scotland. 

It is a conical beacon with a lantern, 
which has a mirror and an arrangement 
of prisms, fixed at its summit. Across the 
channel, 500 ft. away, on Lewis island, 
stands a lighthouse which throws a stream 
of light on the mirror in the lantern, which 
in turn reflects it on the prisms. The rays 
of light are converged to a focus outside the 
lantern and then diverge in every direction, 
making a serviceable lighthouse, fully 
adapted to the requirements of its locality. 
♦ « » 

OBSERVATION STREET CAR 

What is doubtless the finest observation 
street ear in the world has just been built 
for the Montreal street railway. It makes 
daily trips, taking visitors over all the car 
lines in that extremely interesting city. 

The car is 46 ft. long, 8 ft. wide, and 
the seats, which will accommodate 50 pas- 
sengers, are in tiers one above another, 
hence every seat commands an equally good 
view. The car is open, with nothing to 
obstruct the view. At night it is brilliantly 
illuminated. The conductor acts as guide, 
pointing out and describing the points of 
interest. The car has a speed of 40 miles 
an hour, is driven by four large motors and 
is equipped with air brakes. The trolley 
pole is carried by a post at the rear of the 
car. 




Observation Street Car, Montreal 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



357 



LARGEST MARINE BOILERS EVER BUILT FOR 

GREAT LAKES 

Special Track Built for Loading them on Vessel for Shipment 




Ccurt By Ma:ine Boiler Works 



'The Boilers are Each 15 Ft. in Diameter" 



The largest marine boilers ever built for 
use on the Great Lakes were recently shipped 
from Toledo, Ohio, to Detroit, Mich., where 
they will be installed on a new vessel being 
built there. To facilitate loading the big 
boilers on the boat for shipment necessitated 
building a special track out along the pier. 

The boilers are each 15 ft. in diameter by 
12 ft. long and contain three corrugated 
furnaces 44 in. interior diameter by 9 ft. 4 
in. long and contain 368 three-inch tubes 8 
ft. 9 in. long. They have 32 through bolts 
(2% in.) with nuts inside and outside. The 
shells of the boilers are 1% in. thick (the 



heaviest ever put in marine boilers, it is 
said), and are riveted with 1%-in. rivets, 
driven with 150 tons hydraulic pressure. The 
tube sheet is % in. thick, the external parts 
% in. and the furnaces 23-32 in. thick. The 
flanges for steam pipe and safety valve are 
of cast steel; the butt straps are 1 in. thick. 
The rolling of the steel plates for the shell 
was a great undertaking and it was neces- 
sary to substitute steel gears for the ordi- 
nary cast iron gear wheels on the machine. 
The boilers were tested to 315 lb. hydro- 
static pressure, which gives them a safe 
working pressure of 210 lb. of steam. 



ENGLISH OPINION OF AMERICAN BOILER INSPECTION 



After referring to the widely differing 
and somewhat conflicting laws of the sev- 
eral states in the matter of boiler inspec- 
tion, the Electrical Review, London, says: 

"In the city of New York the police do 
the boiler inspection. A few helmeted 
desperadoes drive up in a van with a force 
pump, seize an unfortunate boiler, put a 
trifle more water into it than it will fairly 
hold, and leave it stretched and weakened 
with a quite unwarranted certificate that, 



being reduced in strength by the test put 
upon it, it is now safe to work until next 
assault and battery. No one but a born fool 
would put a boiler to such a casually ap- 
plied hydraulic test with any expectation of 
securing safety or proving a fault, though 
such casual tests do greatly help incipient 
faults to develop and prove themselves af- 
terwards under steam pressure half that 
used in the hydraulic test." 

Conditions are different in England. 



358 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



LOCOMOTIVE LOST IN A JUNGLE 



One would naturally think a locomotive 
was the last thing in the world to be dis- 
covered lost and abandoned in a tropical 
jungle. But such is the fact, and at this 
moment what was once a fine machine in 



has cooled a little, the oil, in suitable quan- 
tity for the kind of varnish being made, is 
added gradually to the gum, stirring con- 
stantly. The mass is then cooked, the grade 
and character required in the product deter- 
mining the degree of heat and the time of 
boiling. Much cooking makes a dark var- 




'How it Came to Be There is a Mystery" 



its day, is rusting away far from the habi- 
tation of any human being. It was recently 
discovered in the woods in Columbia, South 
America. How it came to be there is a 
mystery; no tracks lead to its present loca- 
tion; it's a railroad derelict. Tropical vines 
creep through the spokes of the driving 
wheels and twine around the throttle lever. 
Its headlight has vanished, . and forsaken 
and deserted it is a monument to its own 
death. The Boiler Maker says the name 
plate shows the engine was built in the 
United States in 1878. 

«—-+ ■ — 

HOW VARNISH IS MADE 



nish and less a paler varnish, generally pre- 
ferred. However a dark varnish made of 
the best gum, but not darkened by over- 
cooking, wears better than the paler prod- 
uct, says the Master Painter. 

A ton of gum must be sorted over to ob- 
tain enough light gum for a 125-lb. melting,, 
where light-colored varnish is desired. This 
makes it very expensive. When the mass 
has cooled after cooking, it is thinned with 
turpentine, great precautions against fire 
being necessary. The varnish is graded ac- 
cording to the amount of oil added to it, 
which ranges from one to sixty gallons per 
100 lb. of gum. / 



In brief, the making of varnish seems like 
a simple matter indeed, yet it takes one of 
experience to obtain always the exact re- 
sults and a dependable product. 

A brass kettle having capacity for 125 lb. 
of gum and provided with a cover having a 
hole thi'ough which a stirring rod is ope- 
rated, is filled and put in the fire for the 
gum to melt, which requires about one-half 
hour. From 10 to 25 per cent of the gum is 
lost in the escaping vapors. 

In another copper kettle linseed oil is 
heated in the meantime, and when the gum 



Westrumite, a German product named for 
a Herr Westrum who invented it, is being 
tested in this country as a dust eradicator. 
It is said that a road thoroughly saturated 
with Westrumite will not require sprinkling 
for eight or nine days thereafter. The fluid 
is as cheap as water, and when first tried 
in Germany, a year ago, consular reports 
spoke highly of it. 

■» « » 

Corgress will be asked to change the 
plans of two new battleships from 16,000 
to 18,000-ton ships. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



359 



RECOVERING A SUBMERGED ISLAND 



18 Billion Gallons Pumped from an Area of 7,000 Acres== Average Depth 6 Ft.= 
Steamboat Furnishes Part of the Power 



One of the mosi stupendous pieces of 
pumping ever undertaken in the United 
States was very recently accomplished in 
California. This work was done in San 
Joaquin county, on Bouldin island. The 
island in question is formed by the junc- 
tion of the San Joaquin and Mokolumne 
rivers, and contains an area of more than 
7,000 acres. A large extent of this island 
is under cultivation, being used for raising 
asparagus. In fact, this island contains 
what is undoubtedly the largest asparagus 
farm in the world. 

Bouldin island is of irregular shape, and 
at a mean stage of water lies about 8 ft. 
below the level of the streams surrounding 
it. Many years ago a huge dike was built, 
folio-wing all around the zig-zaggy shoreline 
of the island, some 30 miles long. During 
a heaw freshet a break occurred in this 




Closing the Break 

dike, small at first, but rapidly enlarging. 
In a very short time the break increased 
until 1,500 ft. of embankment was swept 
away. 

Through this great breach the floods 
poured furiously and in a short time sub- 
merged the entire island. Cn an average 
the water stood 7 ft. deep all over the 7,000 




Pumping Plant==Submerged Land Beginning to Appear 



360 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



acres. After the subsidence of the floods 
the first work to do was the repair of the 
breach. This proved a very difficult and 




A 44=in. Pump 

expensive task. Finally, after months of 
work, it was closed up and the inrush of 
waters shut out. To, accomplish this it was 
necessary to sink the condemned hulk of a 
sailing vessel 250 ft. long, then piling and 
vast masses of rock were added. When this 
heavy work was done, the company owning 
the island was confronted with the colossal 
task of pumping out a great lake. 

A large pumping plant was installed at 
the point where the break occurred. The 
boiler capacity of 1,000 hp. was found to be 
insufficient, and was supplemented by 500 
hp. additional in the steamer "City of 
Stockton," shown in the illustration. She 
was made fast to the dike and steam pipe 
lines with ball joints run ashore from her 
four 54 in. x 18 ft. boilers. 

The capacity of the four pumps was 165,- 
000 gal. per min., equivalent to 10,000,000 
gal. per hour. During the time of pumping 
no less than 6 in. of rain fell on the island, 



which increased, the duty to be performed 
about 1,200,000,000 gal. additional, making 
the total water pumped 18,200,000,000 gal. 

Two 44-in. and two 36-in. centrifugal 
pumps were installed. The capacity of 
each of the 44-in. pumps Avas 60,000 gal. per 
minute.; of the 36-in., 35,000 gal. per min- 
ute. These pumps were installed upon the 
syphon plan, being the first attempt at this 
class of installation on such large pumps 
ever attempted upon the coast. The plant 
was a success in every particular and the 
water was entirely removed from the island 
within a period of five months. All four 
pumps were operated continuously for about 
60 days, after which time the pumps ope- 
rated intermittently, as best served the 
owners. The oil consumption ranged from 
60 to 100 barrels per day of 24 hours, and 
2,500 barrels of oil were used in draining 
the island. Every 24 hours 240,000,000 gal- 
lons were thrown out. The pumping was 
started March 8 of the present year and 
completed in August. 

Now that the pumping is over, it is esti- 
mated that the cost of putting the ground 
again into suitable condition for asparagus 
will reach another $200,000. It is very 
probable that the total direct cost of the 
submergence of Bouldin island will approx- 
imate $500,000. 

At the present time there are 20,000 sheep 
on the island and 3,000 Japanese gardeners. 
A full crop of asparagus is expected next 
season. 



It is said it will require 1,500,000 freight 
cars, or a train 12,286 miles long, to haul 
the grain crop to market this year. 




Steamboat Supplying 500 Boiler Horsepower 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



361 



CAUSE OF "BENNINGTON" ACCI- 
DENT 



REINFORCED CONCRETE SEWER 
PIPE 



The naval investigation of the "Benning- 
ton" accident finds it was caused by a care- 
less fireman shutting off the steam gauge 
connection instead of an air cock as he sup- 
posed. The boilers were freely fired, but 
no pressure showed on the gauge. The 
safety valves stuck. 



STEAMER WRECKS STREET CAR 



A peculiar street car accident occurred 
in Milwaukee not long since when a steamer 
collided with the north end of a bridge, 
just as the car was leaving the south end. 
When the steamer struck the bridge, it tore 
it open at that end, making a correspond- 
ing gap of 35 ft. at the other end, across 
which hung the street car with its load of 
terrified passengers. All escaped unhurt, 
however. Two of the huge bridge spans 
were wrenched loose and fell on the car. 
The bridge was damaged considerably and 
it required several hours to clear away the 
debris and rescue the car from" its precari- 
ous position. A scow piled high with rail- 
road ties was backed under the bridge and 
a cribwork of ties built up to raise that end 
of the car, which was then hauled off. 



Reinforced concrete sewer pipe can now 
be made in diameter from 15 in. to 10 ft. 
Not only that, but they possess a remark- 
able strength. The illustration, from Mu- 
nicipal Engineering, shows a section 3 ft. 
in diameter supporting a load of 20,000 lbs., 




and the pipe 90 days old. Railroads are 
now using these pipes for waterways under 
tracks in place of the more expensive iron 
pipes. Joints are made with iron bands 
drawn tight, the coupling filled with cement. 




Unusual Accident ^Ship Wrecks Street Car 



362 ENCYCLOPEDIA 

NOTABLE WHARF IN MEXICO SMALLEST NAVIES IN THE WORLD 



L notable example of wharf engineering 
has been completed after several years con- 
struc*i<?£ at Tampico, Mexico. The struc- 
ture is near the bank near the mouth of the 
Panuco river, the water being 30 ft. deep 
on the river side. The construction had to 
be not only fire proof above the water line, 
but calculated to resist the equally destruc- 
tive ravages of the warm salt water below. 

The entire wharf is 2,600 ft. long with 



Several recognized nations have "navies" 
which are simply ridiculous. For instance, 
Panama has one converted yacht; Belgium 
has one training ship; Peru has a weather- 
beaten tramp steamer of 600 tons; and 
Roumania's navy consists of a 1,300-ton 
cruiser, a small training ship and 8 torpedo 
boats. In coiaparison with our "big stick" 
the above would rate as little more than 
slivers. 




Courtesy Ry. KevleW 



Constructing the Piers, Tampico, Mexico 



tracks of the Mexican Central extending the 
entire length. One-half inch steel cylinders 
6 ft. diameter and 55 ft. long, placed about 
20 ft. apart, support the wharf. The cyl- 
inders were sunk to the sand which is cov- 
ered by 30 ft. of mud. Creosoted piles of 
Song leaf yellow pine were driven inside the 
cylinders and the remaining space filled 
with concrete. 

Extensive freight houses were erected on 
the wharf with electrical machinery for ex- 
changing freight between the cars and 
ocean-going vessels. The above facts are 
condensed from a detailed description in 
the Railway Review. 

» » » 

An International Fire Congress to which 
fire and insurance men are invited will be 
held in Milan, Italy, in May, 1906. In Europe 
as much attention is given to preventing 
fires, as Americans display in extinguishing 
them. 



1906 STYLE AUTO 



The largest public 'bath in Europe is lo- 
cated at Vienna. It is 587 ft. long, 156 ft. 
wide and accommodates 1,500 people. It is 
patronized by thousands of the poor. 



Some of the new styles of autos which 
will be brought out next year will lose 
much of the accustomed resemblance to a 
motor car and will easily pass for a horse- 
drawn vehicle. The running side board is 
omitted ajid the rear seat is higher than the 




Phaeton Auto for 1906 

other. The room required for machinery is 
greatly reduced and the lines throughout 
are much more graceful. The style illus- 
trated will be known as the phaeton auto. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



363 



THE ARMOR=PIERCING POWER OF THE CAPPED 

PROJECTILE 



The strongest, hardest armor plate manu- 
factured today, the product of long years of 
experiment, study and experience devoted 
to the question at such steel works as the 
Krupp, Harvey and Creuspt, is not proof 
against that marvel of penetrative ability— 
the capped projectile. In 1854 the French 
sent floating batteries sheathed with 4% in. 
laminated iron to the Black Sea and these 
were able to resist the fire of the 68-pound- 
ers in use at that time; a few years later 
the "Merrimac," newly clad in iron, sailed out 



to fit it to the projectile is by metallic 
soldering and with this method, caps can 
be fitted to old projectiles on hand. Another 
method, used only with new projectiles, is 
to screw the cap on the head. Whichever 
the case, the cap must be securely attached. 
Why this mass of material at its head 
should give to the projectile the extraordi- 
nary efficiency that it does is a subject of 
mucn theorizing. Certain it is, however, that 
in tests, a capped ball, moving at a velocity 
of 2,500 ft. per second, pierced an 8-in. 






Armour=Piercing Shot 
l6=in ) After Pen= 
etrating Plate 



Capped 6=in. Shot 



Penetrated 9=in. Plate 

Twice and was not 

Injured 



of the Mississippi to uphold the Confederate 
cause, and to demonstrate the use of the 
armor-protected war vessel to be practical. 
Then, indeed, began the competition for su- 
premacy between armor plate and armor- 
piercing shell, now one, now the other 
claiming the advantage; striving onward 
through a period of 40 years unto the pres- 
ent day in which the capped projectile holds 
the point. Supremacy in this age, however, 
is as • transitory as life, for now, more than 
than ever before, in a material sense, man 
is "restrained from no thing that he hath 
imagined," and the great steel manufac- 
turers are still imagining plates that no 
shell can pierce. 

The cap which is used on the projectile 
is made of* soft steel filled with graphite 
(though there is a freedom of choice in the 
matter) is of various shapes and for a 4.7 
in. shell weighs about 3.3 lb. The best way 



Krupp plate that had successfully resisted 
an uncapped shell striking it with a velocity 
of 2,300 ft; that 15%-in plate was pierced 
by a 10-in shell with a clean round perfora- 
tion, only made ragged by flowing metal at 
its edges; and that other tests beyond num- 
ber have proved it. 

Eugen Kodar v. Thurnwerth in an article 
in the Marine- Artillerie-Ingenieur (translat- 
ed for the Journal of the United States 
Artillery by Captain George Blakely) sum- 
marizes the noteworthy theories in regard 
to the action of the capped projectile and 
refutes a number of them, adducing his own. 

Some claim that the cap melts and forms 
a lubricant for the projectile in its passage 
through the plate and so reduces the amount 
of friction resulting. But this could only 
be true in soft plates where the head and 
body of the projectile come in sliding con- 
tact with the plate, whereas the superiority 



364 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



of the capped projectile over the uncapped 
only obtains in the case of hard plates. Also 
the amount of energy required to heat and 




Effect of 4.7=in. Capped Cast Projectile on Nickel 
Steel Plate Inclined 20 Degrees 

melt the cap would decrease the energy 
available for penetrative purposes. 

Another theory is that on the impact the 
cap takes up that amount of energy which 
would cause the destruction of the projec- 
tile and sets free only that part required to 
penetrate the plate. The cap Is neither of 
sufficient size nor suitable material to take 
up so large a store of energy without de- 
stroying its molecular structure. The cap 
cannot act as a guide to the projectile, be- 
cause it has become deformed when the pro- 
jectile is most in need of guidance, thus 
another theory comes to naught. The most 
likely theory, declares Herr Kodar von 
Thnrnwerth is that the uppermost layer of 
the armor is softened and the plate so trans- 
formed into a homogeneous steel plate. 




In striking the best Krupp cemented and 
hardened nichel-chrome steel plate a pro- 
jectile is arrested in motion almost immedi- 
ately and a pressure of from 220 to 440 lb. 
occurs on its head. At that instant the head 
of the projectile is deformed and its then 
broad rounded surface cannot pierce the 
plate, but seeks to compress it; this results 
in the front surface of the plate bulging in, 
and the rear side bulging out. Meanwhile, 
the cylindrical body of the projectile moves 
forward, until, arrested by the deformed 
head and the plate, the low tenacity of the 
tempered material is overcome and the pro- 
jectile breaks up. Its head is broken loose 
by the resistance and is practically welded 
to the plate. This is the unsatisfactory ef- 
fect of the uncapped projectile against hard 
plate. 

The superior action of the capped pro 
jectile, it is declared, rests on the fact that, 
at the first instant of impact with the plate, 
the head is not deformed. The cap causes 
the pressure to be distributed over a fairly 
large cross-section instead of confining it to 
the point, and so the point pierces the hard 




Action of Uncapped Projectile on Striking Krupp 
Steel Plate 



Action of Capped Projectile on Striking Krupp 
Steel Plate 

steel like a chisel. The cap has no further 
work to do; the projectile passes on through 
the plate alone and uninjured; its point, once 
entered into the hard steel, forms a path 
for itself, its head ever-widening, and forces 
out at the rear of the plate a cylindrical, 
section of the softer material it there en- 
counters. This section breaks up into sev- 
eral pieces. The shell goes through the 
plate whole, more often than it breaks, and 
with increased bursting effect from this 
reason. 

The capped projectile, however has its 
limitations. Its superiority to the ordinary 
shell obtains only with hard plates and 
with high striking velocities; thus at long 
ranges it is not more effective. The limiting 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



365 



velocity is stated to be 1,650 ft. sec. 
This velocity is attained with 4.7 in. forty 
calibre guns at 2,200 to 2,625 yd. and with 
modern 9.5-in. guns at 7,650 yd. These are 
close ranges and leave recourse to longer 
fighting ranges and increase in thickness of 
armor plate as the means at present avail- 
able for protection against the capped 
projectile. 



AIR CUSHION ABSORBS SHOCK IN j 
AUTO TRAVEL 



The question of springs for automobiles 
is a perplexing one to the manufacturer, as 
the light, flexible springs which make such 
comfortable riding at slow speeds on ordi- 
nary roads, play so freely on bad roads and 
at high speeds that bumping on the axles 
results when the springs are compressed, 
and often in the rebound the springs break. 

A new device intended to absorb the shock 
of spring play and make "the flexible springs 
practical and comfortable on any road is in 




Shock Absorber Attached to Auto 

the shape of a cylinder in which works an 
airtight piston. The cylinder is attached to 
the axle and the piston to the car frame, by 
means of suitable brackets, while freedom 
of movement in all directions is secured by 
universal joints at the points of attachment. 
A cap or casing on the plunger fits closely 
over the cylinder and excludes the dust. 
The cylinder contains sufficient lubricant for 
10,000 miles running and on ordinarily un- 
even roads the air cushion allows the springs 
to move freely with comfort to the passen- 
gers, while at too great speed over rough 
places the cushion absorbs the shock, spar- 
ing the injurious effect on the springs and 



gradually brings the car to a stop. Wear on 
machinery is thus greatly reduced, as well 
as the comfort of the occupants of the vehi- 
cle being promoted. 

♦♦-* 

CLOCK SHOWS TIME IN THIRTEEN 
CITIES 



A clock recently made by an English firm 
for an eastern potentate has thirteen dials 
and shows the correct time for as many of 




Clock With Thirteen Dials 

the largest cities of the world, viz: Wash- 
ington, Yokahoma, Berlin, Teheran, Bombay. 
Samarkand, Rome, St. Petersburg, London' 
Paris, Vienna, Constantinople and Pekin. 

Each dial is mounted in a handsome 
ormulu frame, richly engraved and bears 
the name of its city in native characters, as 
are also the figures. Similar clocks have 
been made in this country. 



STREET CAR PASSENGERS DRAW 
PRIZES 



In the city of Mexico each passenger who 
pays fare on a street car is supposed to 
receive a receipt from the conductor. Aa 
the company knows how many receipts are 
furnished each conductor, it expects a fare 
turned in for a like number. In order to 
encourage the passengers to insist upon the 
receipts, each receipt is made a lottery 
ticket with a chance to draw one of the 209 
cash prizes offered by the company. The 
prizes range from $1,000 down to a small 
amount. The scheme has the approval of 
the authorities and not only increases travel 
but furnishes an excellent check upon any 
dishonest employes. 

4 » » 



366 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



NEW TYPE BALLOON "SWANSKE' 



A new type of balloon has been built by 
Capt. Unge, a Swede, and named by him the 
"Swanske." It is a gas inflated vessel of 




The "Swanske" 

such shape that in case of an accident and 
a too sudden descent it becomes a para- 
chute. 

*-•-* 

HOW TOGO FOOLED THE RUSSIANS 



An interesting side light on the battle of 
the Sea of Japan appears in the Singapore 
Press in an interview with Capt. Pernitz of 
the salvage ship "Russ," lost in the battle. 
The captain was on his way home and said: 

"Engagement?— from the Russian point 
of view it wasn't worthy of the name. 
Call it a wild scramble for safety- 
shelter anywhere. Rojestvensky was taken 
by surprise, completely surrounded, bewil- 
dered. The devilish cunning of the Japa- 
nese! They had a huge dummy fleet- 
wooden ships, marvelous imitations of the 
real article, guns, fighting-tops and all, lying 
off the Pescadores. Of this supposed squad- 
ron our admiral had information, and pass- 
ing the Pescadores without hurt, we 



imagined there was not sufficient weight 
behind the remainder of Togo's fleet to pre- 
vent the greater portion of our armada mak- 
ing for Vladivostok. And then we were 
trapped, surrounded, and in reality, defeated 
before the fight began!" 

Admiral Rojestvensky, according to the 
captain, was the only fighting man of any 
value among the leaders of Russia's forlorn 
hope. Nebogatoff and the others, by the fee- 
ble fight they made of it, were little better 
than traitors. They were disgraced for ever. 
Scarcely one of the Russian warships gave 
battle in the true sense of the word. The 
whole navy seems to have been dazed by 
the suddenness of the attack and the over- 
whelming force of the enemy. There seems 
to have been no proper understanding be- 
tween the various commanders as to 
whether they were all to cut and run, or 
stand and fight to a finish. Some did the 
one, a few adopted the latter policy. The 
result was demoralization, complete, piti- 
able. Captain Pernitz narrowly escaped 
with his life. 



The marine board at Trieste, Austria, is 
offering premiums for killing sharks. For 
specimens of sharks up to 5 ft. long (any 
species save eatable ones), $2.30 is paid. 
Larger sharks bring $4.60; very large ones, 
of two particular species, $11.50; and man- 
eating sharks bring from $9.20 to $230 pre- 
mium. 



TURNTABLE FOR AUTOMOBILES 



A turntable for automobiles, built some- 
what on the plan of a locomotive table, is 
now available. Where the owner houses his 
machine in a small shed it is convenient, as 




&wwn Mi 



Turntable 

it enables him to always run the machine 
out going ahead instead of backing. For 
garages, factories and repair shops its ad- 
vantages are evident. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 

MAY RAISE THE MAINE 



367 




Plan Proposed for Raising the Maine 



An effort is again being made to organize 
a company to raise the Maine, which is an 
obstruction to navigation in the harbor of 
Havana. It is now more than seven years 
since the wreck occurred and during this 
time the hull with its heavy load has been 
constantly sinking in the soft muddy bot- 
tom of the bay. The only possible way to 
raise the vessel would be to inclose it in a 
cofferdam, and pump the water out. 



Whether it could then be patched and 
floated would depend upon how badly the 
hull is shattered. 

The proposed dam would be about 400 
ft. in diameter and 100 ft. deep. The pros- 
pect of recovery grows less each year as the 
machinery, guns and other valuable salvage 
is being rapidly corroded in the warm salt 
water. The authorities claim that the wreck 
is a menace to navigation. 



CANADA REVIVES GEORGIAN BAY CANAL PROJECT 



The Canadian government has revived the 
old project of a deep-sea ship canal con- 
necting the Georgian bay with the Ottawa 
and St. Lawrence rivers, thus creating an 
all-water route from Chicago to the Atlantic 
and diverting to Canadian channels the 
mighty stream of commerce that now flows 
through Buffalo and New York on its way 
to Europe. Canada would reap an immense 
profit in tolls. 

The annual export of grain from the Unit- 
ed States amounts to 2,223,000,000 bushels 



and of meat 1,000,000,000 pounds, three- 
fourths of which moves to New York by 
rail and less than one-fourth from Chicago 
to Buffalo by boat. The cost of carrying 
from Buffalo to New York is stated as 
greater than the cost from New York to 
Liverpool. The distsnce from Chicago to 
Buffalo via the great lakes is 900 miles and 
from Chicago to Montreal by way of 
the Michigan, Huron and Georgian bay 
canal, 905 miles. The Georgian bay canal 
would undoubtedly afford a cheaper and 




fe£ 



Hap Showing Route of New Canal 



368 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



shorter road to the foreign market, and 
though New York would inevitably lose, 
Chicago and Duluth would gain. 

"In all 32 miles of canal with a depth of 
20 ft. of water on the sill and 22 in the 
reaches would have to be built," remarked 
James J. Hill. The Ottawa river would re- 
quire some dredging and for the rest, nature 
has prepared the way. The cost of build- 
ing the canal would approximate $70,000,000. 



HOW TO MAKE AN ADJUSTABLE 
SHAVING MIRROR 



By C. P. Mitchell 

Get about two ft. of ^-in. brass rod and 
bend one end in half circle as in Fig. 1. 
This can be done by holding loosely in the 
jaws of small vise and bending a little at a 
time until the half circle is made. The oth- 
er end should then be screwed tightly in 
vise and bent up in same plane 1% in. from 
end to a sharp right angle as in Fig. 1. 



bolt about % in. from bend; then piace in 
vise to the depth of 1 in. and bend the two 
ends apart at right angles as in Fig. 3. 
The extremities of each end should then be 
bent around two pieces of stout wire curved 
away from each other, the ends of which 
are bent over the edge of a round mirror, as 
in Fig. 6. If the ends of the wires are 
pinched together, the mirror can be slipped 
in and out at will. Now put the 2^-in. 
piece of brass band in vise to the depth of 
%-in. and bend at right angle; then bend it 
back over and around end of rod. Now bore 
a hole near the edge to correspond to the 
hole in the 4%-in. piece and insert a half 
inch bolt through both holes as in Fig. 5, 
using two nuts, one to act as a lock nut. 

The door stop can then be screwed to the 
wood frame of any window (two screws 
will be sufficient to hold it, using the two 
upper screw holes). If the curved end of 
the rod is then inserted and the mirror 
placed on the other end of rod and the nuts 



(L 



Fig. 1 



1) 




Fig. 2 



U 



r- 
an 

C3 

pa 



£ 




Fig. 4 



Fig. 3 



Fig. 6 



& 




M 




Fig. 5 



Get a folding door stop at any hardware 
store (those used in connection with doors 
which run on rails) and drill with a %-in. 
drill, a hole in the middle of the center 
projection, as in Fig. 2, but when the point 
of the drill begins to show on the other side 
be careful to stop when the hole is large 
enough to admit, easily, the curved end of 
the %-in. rod. In other words, instead of 
drilling all the way through, stop when the 
opening is a fraction over % in., making the 
opening at one end % in. and at the other 
% in. 

Get about 7 in. of 1-in. wide and 1/32-in. 
thick brass band and cut with shears in 
two pieces of 4% in. and 2% in. respectively. 
Bend the 4%-in. piece in haJf and hammer 
flat together, then drill a hole for a half inch 



tightened so that it will turn stiffly, it will 
be found that the mirror can be placed in 
any position desired and can be put out of 
the way when not in use. Other door stops 
can be screwed to other windows in any part 
of the house and the mirror and rod moved 
from one to another. 



CEMENT FOR WOODWORK 



The following cement will be very hard 
when dry, and will adhere firmly to wood: 
Melt one ounce of rosin and one ounce of 
pure yellow wax in an iron pan, and thor- 
oughly stir in one ounce of Venetian red 
until a perfect mixture is formed. Use while 
hot. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 369 

TURBINE SHIPS 800 FEET LONG 



Horsepower, 75,000==DispIacement, 43,000 Tons==A Floating City 



In whatever respect any big ocean liner 
in existence has excelled in the past, be it 
dimensions, capacity, accommodations or 
speed, the" eclipse of her pride is presaged 
in the construction in England of two mon- 
ster turbine Canarders. In such degree will 
these mammoth vessels surpass all their 
elder sisters of the deep, competition be- 
tween them will scarcely be worth while— 



the twins will have to race with each other 
to create an interest. 

The dimensions of these new vessels are 
as follows: Length over all, 800 ft.; beam, 
88 ft; depth, 60 ft; displacement, 43,000 
tons. The horsepower of each will be 75,000 
and the contract speed is placed at 25 knots. 
Comparing them with other big steamships 
of the world, we find that in length the 



/ 




Courtesy Scientific Americas. 



'Eight=Story'* Ship With Elevators 



370 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



"Baltic" is exceeded by 75 ft. and in dis- 
placement 3,000 tons; that the beam of the 
"Great Eastern," for years the accepted 
standard for modern steamships, is 5 ft. 
less than that of the Cunarders, and her 
depth 2% ft. less; length, 108 ft. less. And 
that the speed of the "Deutschland" and the 
"Kaiser Wilhelm II," for years the fastest 
ships crossing the Atlantic, is 1.5 knots too 
slow to keep up with even the contract pace 
of the Cunarders, which, it is tacitly agreed, 
will not be their best, as turbine vessels 
nearly always exceed the contract speed. 

The steel plating of the turbine twins is 
1% in. thick, bringing it on the lap to a 
total of 3 in. on each side. Their extreme 
draft is 36 ft., but not until the new Am- 
brose channel into New York harbor is com- 
pleted will they be able to load to that draft. 

The vessels have double bottoms 5 ft. 6 in. 
in depth between the inner and outer shell. 
The Scotch boilers are placed four abreast 
and the large coal bunkers are located in 
the wings. There are in all eight decks. 



The third-class passenger accommodations 
are the best ever afforded; the space is di- 
vided into separate state rooms, and the 
rooms are lighted with port holes. There is 
a great dining saloon on the upper aeck, 
80 by 125 ft, and capable of seating over 
500 people. In the center will be a large 
overhead well, extending through two 
decks, and crowned with a dome of cathe- 
dral glass. The first-class state rooms will 
be 50 per cent larger than the usual size. 

The vessels in height compare well with 
an eight-story building, and in many re- 
spects resemble one. They are equipped with 
elevators, an innovation that will be greatly 
appreciated. 

Four turbines of a designed indicated 
horsepower of 18,000 supply the motive 
power. These will all be placed on the 
same platform. The stride in size and con- 
struction is indeed a long one, but it is 
hardly to be expected that other large steam- 
ship companies will let it rest here— it is 
merely an impetus to competition. 



UNIQUE MARINE PULPIT 



Where the 



Sky Pilot" Preaches From the 
"Wheel" 



What is doubtless the most unique and 
appropriate pulpit in the world may be seen 
in the mariners church, San Francisco. As 
its name implies, it is devoted exclusively 




The Marine Pulpit 

to the welfare of the sailors who visit that 
port from all parts of the world. 

The pulpit platform is in the form of the 
stern of a ship, modeled after the graceful 
lines of the "Young America," of San Fran- 
cisco, a very handsome craft. 



THE ELECTRIC VIOLIN A SUCCESS 

The Most Difficult of All Instruments Now Played 
By Machinery 

All kinds of violin music ranging from 
the classical production of world-wide ar- 
tists down to the old time "money musk" 
of the husking bee, can now be rendered 
without the touch of a human hand. An 
ordinary % hp. electric motor furnishes the 
power and other electrical machinery does 
the rest. While pianos, guitars, cornets, 
banjos and scores of other instruments have 
been reduced to mechanical operation, the 
violin has persistently baffled the hundreds 
of earnest inventors who have been work- 
ing for years to perfect a purely automatic 
mechanical Instrument. It is only within 
the past few weeks that success has been 
achieved, and a mechanism perfected little 
short of human in its operation. 

The violin itself, which requires no ex- 
planation, is firmly anchored on a hand- 
some cabinet. Instead of a bow there are 
four revolving discs, composed of celluloid 
and rosin, called sounding brushes,— one for 
each string. These discs are constantly re- 
volving while the machine is running, and 
one or more of them press against the 
strings at the proper moment, by means 
of electro magnets. At the instant the disc 
touches its string an electric finger, also 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



371 




The Electric Violin 



operated by a magnet, presses the same 
string at the proper place, just as a musi- 
cian would do with his own fingers. There 
are 58 of these electric fingers arranged in 
rows, as will be seen in the illustration. 
Connecting with the revolving discs and 
the electric fingers are wires, not shown, 
which pass into the lower part of the case 
containing the violin. These wires each 
end in a small brass strip, or contact point, 
which rests upon a perforated strip of 
paper, which is the score. This paper strip 
passes over a brass cylinder, and when one 
of the perforations in the paper reaches a 
contact point, the perforation allows the 
brass point to touch the brass cylinder thus 
completing the electric circuit and operat- 
ing the proper magnets which control the 
movements of the discs and fingers. A long 
perforation therefore produces a long note, 
and a short perforation a correspondingly 
short note. The machine can do what no 
human performer can do, viz., produce a 
sound on any two or more strings at the 
same instant, thus securing an orchestral 
effect. 

One would naturally expect a machine 
could produce nothing but "brassy" or 
metallic music, but quite the opposite is the 
fact. The transfeiTing of a piece of music, 
as actually played by a performer, onto a 
record from which the perforated strips are 



made, is a difficult operation, which the in- 
ventor guards as a state secret. 

The electric virtuoso is designed for use 
in the home, but will doubtless be first seen 
on the stage as a musical novelty, and in 
other places of amusement. It can be ad- 
justed to four times the volume of the hand 
played instrument, or graduated to suit the 
faintest, most delicate strains desired. The 
tuning would naturally seen to be a difficult 
undertaking, but this is also done me- 
chanically; in fact one who is not himself 
a musician, can accurately tune the instru- 
ment by means of a special roll of the per- 
forated paper, and the use of certain thumb 
screws. In short, the electric violin is said 
to be capable of performing any action of 
the hand-played instrument, and much 
more. 



Lightning killed one man and injured two 
others in a mine 1,008 ft. in the ground in 
Michigan recently. The bolt struck a cable 
and ran down into the mine, prematurely 
setting off two charges of dynamite. 
+-*-+ 

"If explosions occur in the muffler of the 
gasoline engine, add more battery," advises 
a contemporary. It may be a case of weak 
mixture, when the user will have to add 
more gasoline.— The Gas Engine. 



372 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



THE HANDLELESS HAND CAR 



From Boston to San Francisco, and as far 
back as the oldest settler can remember the 
eight of the section gang pumping their 
hand car is a familiar one. Thousands upon 
thousands of these useful but unsightly 
vehicles travel over 6,000,000 miles each 
year on the steam railways of this country. 

The auto craze seems destined to reach 
even "Pat," and he is due to ride in ease in 
the near future when he goes down the line 




''Pat's" Automobile 

to take out a broken tie or raise a low joint. 
His auto rejoices in the impressive name 
of section motor work car, and will carry 
his crew merrily along at 15 miles an hour, 
while the boys rest and pack their pipes. 
The motive power is a two-cylinder, 8 h. p., 
gasoline engine, with simple gearing and 
calculated fb operate with little experience. 
The car is made for any guage from 24 in. 
up, will run in either direction, and is 



quickly stopped by. means of a double hub 
brake. The framework is of steel tubing, 
combining necessary strength with mini- 
mum weight. 



MUNICIPAL TELEPHONY A FAIL- 
URE IN ENGLAND 

For years the government has operated 
the telegraph in England, giving an excel- 
lent service at very low charges. Six years 
ago a bill was passed allowing cities to go 
into the telephone business. This act was 
repealed on August 9 last. The plan was 
a failure. During the six years only 13 
cities out of a possible 1,334 took out a 
license, and of the 13 only 6 put in tele- 
phones. On August 9, when the act was 
repealed, only 5 municipal exchanges were 
in operation, and all of these were in a 
sorry plight, financially. In order to pro- 
tecL the public the government has offered 
to take over and operate the Ave exchanges, 
which are situated in Glasgow, Hull, Brigh- 
ton, Portsmouth and Swansea, and which 
cost a total of $2,500,000. 

The lesson is obvious. Something more 
than a merely honest administration is re- 
quired, for there is no suspicion of the 
grafting prevailing in this country, in con- 
nection with the failure. 



Just try to imagine the Czar taking 
chances on a trip in a submarine! 




Courtesy Ry. Review 



Motor "Hand Car"==Carries 15 Men 15 Miles an Hour 




The Russian Battleship "Orel," Riddled by Japanese Fire in the Great 
Naval Battle of the Sea of Japan 



373 



374 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



FINEST GUNPOWDER PLANT IS IN 
JAPAN 



the most combustible of all things, and 
when a car barn takes tire the loss is al- 
ways heavy and usually total. 



The most complete, modern, convenient 
and practical gunpowder plant in the world 
belongs to the Japanese government and is 
located at Meguro, near Tokio. All kinds 
of ordnance and blasting powders are man- 
ufactured at this plant and 500 men are em- 
ployed. Every department has its allot- 
ment of space, but not a foot is wasted, nor 
is there anything superfluous about the 
massive buildings and their equipment. A 
narrow gauge railroad runs along the main 
street for the full length of the factory 
grounds and overhead a wire-rope power- 
transmission connects all departments. 
Though modern in every respect, the plant 
is none the less Japanese in appearance. 
The corners of the roofs of the buildings 
turn up and there are many details in every 
department carried out in Japanese fashion. 

Five to six thousand pounds of finished 
material is turned out daily, yet grounds and 
buildings are kept neat and clean. A de- 
tachment of soldiers patrol the plant and 
military precision and discipline govern. 

♦ » » 

STEEL STREET CARS 



The growing tendency to build cars out 
of non-combustible materials has entered a 
new field, and the first steel street car has 
been finished and is running in the streets 
of New York. No wood is used in the con- 
struction of the car except the little re- 
quired for the window sash, parts of the 
roof and the strips on the floor, and all 
these have been flreproofed. There is not 
the same necessity for a fireproof street car 
that there is for a steam car, as the pas- 
sengers could always escape, but the street 
oar, when stored in car barns, is one of 



♦ « » 



TELEGRAPHING PHOTOGRAPHS 



Photographs can now be sent to a dis- 
stance by telegraph. This means that a 
disaster occurring in New York tonight may 
be illustrated from actual photographs of 
the scene in the San Francisco papers to- 
morrow morning, instead of from the artist's 
imaginary pen pictures. 

The instrument by which the telegraphic 
transmission of photographs, handwriting 
and photo-engravings is possible is the in- 
vention of Professor Arthur KOrn, of 
Munich, and involves the use of a selenium 
cell, the electrical resistance of which varies 
according to the action of the light upon it. 
When arf image from a photographic film 
is thrown upon this selenium cell the vari- 
able resistances are set up and transmitted 
to the receiving end of the apparatus. Here 
they vary the light of a Geissler tube which 
acts upon a sensitive tube as explained in 
the illustration, which we reproduce by 
courtesy of the Illustrated London News. 
The French telegraph service has been test- 
ing the photographic powers of the appara- 
tus on a line between Paris and Rouen, for 
several weeks past and the illustration 
shows facsimiles of photographs actually 
sent by telegraph. 



A special course of instruction for fitting 
boys to become apprentices in the shops of 
the Pennsylvania E. R. has been adopted 
by the board of education of Altoona, Pa., 
and will be taught in the high school of 
that city. Railway officials assisted in pre- 
paring the course. 



neiiBiBiiiiiflii 1 



First Steel Street Car Ever Built 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



375 



APPARATUS, BY WHICH PHOTOGRAPHS ARE ACTU- 
ALLY TELEGRAPHED 




A Setemum cell A ( Platinum Wire 
Vound on ftlaft aoA couerid wttVv 
Selenium") i 5 rnounTfed upon the 
Sx'is B vnfH'in IVie olsss cvlmder> 
C A beam of iioVit" is thrown 
ftircugh a lens 'So <as To pass 
"u-ough A negative film fastened 
bon rv>e cylinder and .affectiocr p 
rhe electrsCdi resistance of ttie 
.Selenium Ceil according to 
frie AmcvJ.nt"of li'okl"" vvh'icb Basses 
fhrouok - A motor keeps flic 
CA|h'r<S£r revolving -ini sUclino- 
To brine dii PArts of the film 
under the UoWr. The vdr^ing 
CurrenV (passes dlor.cr Vvire X) 
to Vhg receiving station . 



RECClViHC 



TION - 



Portraits a, b, c and d are Reproductions of Photographs Sent Over the Wire of the French 

Telegraph Co. 



376 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



OCEAN TURBINES DECLARED TOO 
SLOW 



MOSLEMS SACRIFICE EYES 
PROPHET'S TOMB 



AT 



The steam turbine has made such rapid 
progress considerable surprise will be oc- 
casioned at the report of Herr Struver, the 
chief constructing engineer of the North 
German Lloyd line. He declares as a re- 
sult of test voyages he made on the Allan 
liner "Victorian" that: "It may do for small 
vessels, but it is not the thing for big ones. 
It does not save space or weight, and I did 
not discover that it saved anything in coal. 



The pilgrim Moslem traveling toward 
Mecca has one supreme objective— the 
Prophet's tomb. When he has gazed on that 
he has, by some strange frenzy of belief, 
exhausted the delights of vision. He would 
insure that Mohammed's resting place be 
his last earthly sight. 

Near the Ka-baah are men heating bricks 
white-hot in pans of coals. When the pil- 
grim has feasted his eyes on the (to him) 




"They Gaze at White=Hot Bricks 

The one advantage that can be claimed for 
it is that it has little or no vibration. But 
that does not offset the other disadvan- 
tages." 

The difficulty of reversing is emphasized, 
the expert stating that it takes more than 
five times as long to reverse a turbine as a 
reciprocating engine. 

However, the Cunard line have under 
construction two immense turbines which 
are expected to have a sustained speed of 
24 knots an hour. It is said important im- 
provements have been made which are 
guarded secrets. 



Until Their Sight is Destroyed." 

blessed sight, he buys one of these white- 
hot bricks and with his face still turned to- 
ward the tomb, brings his eyes near the 
terrible heat of the brick and holds them 
there until his sight is destroyed. His agony 
is fearful, but he bears it till his object is 
accomplished. Then his sufferings stupefy 
him; the white heat of the brick dies out. 
In an hour or two he rises and takes his 
way— a blind man. 

*• » 

France has electric lighthouses with 
lights of 30,000,000 candle power. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



377 



GERMANY TO SELL PNEUMATIC 
TOOLS HERE 



German manufacturers are reported to 
have made a marked advance in their man- 
ufacture of pneumatic tools and compress- 
ors on account of recent important inven- 
tions. These tools have been introduced in 
the great Krupp works with success and a 
well-known firm in Frankfort insists its 
tools are now superior to the American, and 
considerably less expensive. A branch fac- 
tory will probably be established in the 
United States, and the improved German 
tools put in competition with the Ameri- 
can. 



WORLD'S LARGEST STEAM 
TURBINES 



The largest steam turbines ever built are 
under construction for the power house of 
the Brooklyn Heights Railroad. There will 
be two of them with a guaranteed output 
each of 16,000 brake hp., with dry steam 
at 175 lbs. and a vacuum of 28 in. 



EDISON STORAGE BATTERY AGAIN 
PERFECTED 



Two years have passed since the ex- 
travagant claims for a new storage battery 
were heralded by the daily press. Edison 
now announces that he has perfected the 
battery and that the problem of vehicle 
traction is surely solved. He claims his 
battery will store sufficient power to run 



DETECTING FORGERIES BY THE 
MICROSCOPE 



One of the surest means of detecting 
fraudulent additions to or changes in docu- 
ments is by the use of the microscope. Mys- 
teries in crime that have baffled detectives 
for months have at times been laid bare 
by the intelligent use of this instrument. 
The guilty fears this mechanical witness 
against him, as he fears no spoken evidence. 
A skillful lawyer can confuse and discon- 



-rr 



3& 



n 



m 



Fig 1 

cert a human witness and tear to shreds 
the most damnific testimony; but when the 
microscope, silent, infallible witness, lays 
bare to the vision the immutable fact, he 
can only hold his peace. 

Suspected blood-stains on clothing may be 
examined under the microscope, and their 
nature established beyond doubt. The stains 




Fig 2.— $11 Converted into $17 



a pleasure vehicle 100 to 150 miles an hour 
over good roads. The expectation is to ope- 
rate a one-horse delivery wagon for 58 per 
cent of what it costs to do the work with a 
horse. 



are treated with a little alkali, evaporated to 
dryness and then heated with acetic acid, 
and a minute amount of sodium chloride, 
says Knowledge and Scientific News, Lon- 
don. If the stain is from human blood, 



378 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



small but characteristic crystals (haemin 
crystals) will appear. These crystals, much 
magnified, are illustrated in Fig. 1. 

In forgeries the investigation resolves it- 
self to the microscope and the trained ob- 



themselves by imperfections that may not 
be doubted. 

For work of this nature a 1/6 in. is a suf- 
ficiently high power. A good substage il- 
lumination by means of a condenser is re- 






/x,-- 



A/V\ 




Fig. 3 



The Stroke That Betrayed the Forger 



Fig. 4 



server. If a paper has been folded and af- 
terward opened and an addition, change, in- 
terlineation, etc., made in it, a minute quan- 
tity of ink would follow the fold, did a 
single stroke of the pen cross it. A differ- 
ence in the pen used by the forger is brought 
out under the microscope, or the strokes may 
be measured up to the ten-thousandth of an 
inch. The color of the ink may not be the 
exact shade, or may vary because of dif- 
ference in the age of the writing. 

Where figures or letters have been 
changed the joining of the. new strokes with 
the old is certain to be imperfect. This is 
illustrated in Fig. 2, where in the numeral 
II one of the I's has been changed to a 7. 

In Fig. 3 the words "in full to date" have 
been added and the fatal error made of al- 
lowing the cross of the "t" in the word 
"date" to pass over a letter in the signature. 
This, under the microscope, is incontrovert- 
ible evidence, no matter how well otherwise 
the forgery may have been executed. 

The most painstaking forgeries are the 
most apparent when viewed through the 
microscope. In tracing the additions the pen 
has been lifted many times, perhaps; or the 
Woi-tis or signature has been first traced in 
With a pencil, and these things proclaim 



quired, however, and opaque objects must 
be illuminated by means of a bull's-eye or 
in some other way. 



HOW AUTO SCORCHERS ARE 
CAUGHT 



The suburban towns along Lake Michi- 
gan, north of Chicago, afford some of the 
finest automobile courses in the world. 
The local authorities have recently limited 
speed through their towns to 1 about 15 miles 
an hour. Offenders are detected in this 
way: Twd stations are established 1,000 
ft. apart, connected by a wire. At each sta- 
tion an officer is concealed behind shrub- 
bery. As a flyer passes the first station 
the signal is telegraphed to the other where 
a stop watch is started. When the offender 
passes the second station the time is taken 
and if the speed is too high a signal is 
passed to a third officer who makes the ar- 
rest. 

Another scheme tried by villages is to 
build obstructions or bumps at street cross- 
ings. Spectators greatly enjoy watching un- 
suspecting motorists "bump the bumps." 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



379 



THE MODERN Q UICK°FIR INQ FIELD GUN 

Stationary Carriage and Efficient Recoil Apparatus Essential Features===Types of 

Guns Used by Several Nations 




British 18=pr Quick-Firing Gun fur Horse and Field Artillery 



The great advantage afforded by the mod- 
ern quick-firing gun is that, on firing, the 
carriage remains perfectly stationary, while 
a recoil apparatus handles the gun in recoil, 
and returns it to position with sights still 
aligned on the target. In the old equipment, 
gun and carriage were carried back several 
yards by the force of the recoil when the gun 
was fired, and the gunners were obliged to 
step aside to save themselves from injury. 
Then the gun and carriage had to be man- 
handled up to its former position and laid 
again on the target. Delay, fatigue, expos- 
ure, three elements that the improved army 
equipment tends always to eliminate wher- 
ever possible. 

In the new type of field gun a buffer or 
cushion between the gun and the carriage 
places the shock of the discharge low down 
in the carriage with a great increase in 
steadiness of the gun. The gun itself when 
fired recoils on a slide and a flow of liquid, 




usually oil, past the piston-head checks its 
force. The compression of powerful springs 
also checks it, and when the force of recoil 
is expended, these springs, expanding, re- 
turn the gun to position with its sights 
aligned on the target. On the end of the 




German Siege Gun 



Austrian Fiaid Howitzer 

trail is a "spade" or triangular plate of steel, 
which is forced into the ground with the 
first discharge of the gun and holds the 
main part of the carriage stationary. 

Telescopic sights, which are of great as- 
sistance to the gun layer, are used on the 
modern field gun, and it also has a nickel 
shield of great resisting power. 

The British 18-pr. quick-firing gun is pro- 
vided with a limber which enables the fir- 
ing of as much as twenty-nine rounds per 
minute. The interior of this limber has cir- 
cular pigeon holes each of which contains 
a shell and cartridge in one piece. The shell 
contains 364 bullets and is used with most 
deadly effect. 



380 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




French Quick-Firing Gun Unlimbered and Ready for Action 



The quick-firing gun in use by the vari- 
ous European powers differs but little in its 
essential features, though the artillerists of 
one nation do not always agree with those 
of another as to the most important advan- 
tages to be embodied in a weapon. 

The German siege gun mounted upon a 
traveling carriage greatly resembles in 



appearance the modern field gun. When 
being drawn over the road, the gun is run 
back on the trail. The limber used with this 
gun is exceedingly small. 

The French artillerists consider high ve- 
locity and long range essential, therefore 
their quick-firing guns are of great length. 
The gun after recoil is returned to firing 




German Field Artillery and Big Naval Guns from the Krupp Works at Essen 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



381 



position by compressed air. The details of 
this arrangement are a carefully guarded 
secret. The limber and wagon used by the 
French carry the ammunition in pigeon- 
holes and during the firing one body of the 
wagon is up-ended and the lids opened out- 
ward to form a protection for the gunners 
preparing the shell. 

The Austrian government has adopted the 
field howitzer, which is useful for indirect 
firing. The Austrian quick-firing gun is of 
wrought bronze with recoil tube mechanism 
and a detachable shield for protecting the 
gunners. 



FRENCH TANDEM COMPOUND SUB- 
URBAN LOCOMOTIVE 



The illustration shows the new tandem 
compound tank locomotives for suburban 
work on the Paris Ceinture railway. These 
engines weigh 62 tons and require no ten- 
der. The drivers are 5 ft. 2.9 in. diameter. 
The high pressure cylinder is placed first 
in front of the leading driver, and is 12.9 
in. diameter; low pressure cylinder 21.26 in. 
diameter; stroke 23.6 in. In starting, both 
cylinders can be made to work on live steam 
by moving a lever. Other details are: Fire 




New French Compound Suburban Engine 



When the British entered on the Boer war 
their field guns were out-of-date. New guns 
were supplied by the German firm of Ehr- 
hardt, on short notice, and these guns have 
proven so serviceable that the British army 
has adopted them extensively into service. 
Ehrhardt steel, of which these guns are 
made, is said to offer great resistance to 
the strain of rapid firing. 

+—+ 

HILLS TO STOP TRAINS 



grate area, 24 sq. ft; tank capacity, 1,100 
gallons; fuel, 3 tons; working pressure 227 
lbs. 



SIDE LIGHTS ON VESSELS 



One of the elevated roads in Chicago is 
rebuilding its track and will raise the rails 
at stations to make a "hump" 3 ft. high. 
This will not only assist in bringing the 
train to a stop, but the down-grade assists 
in starting again. 



Fifty thousand tons of welded chain were 
made in this country last year, making it 
the largest producer in the world. 



Bed and green side lights on steamers 
were first required to be carried by the 
British Admiralty by act of Parliament, 
January 1, 1847, and the regulation was 
adopted by the United States navy in 1848. 
British sailing vessels, however, were not 
required to carry these lights until 1852. 
The British shipping act or rule of the road 
went into effect for British shipping in 1862 
and was adopted by the United States in 
1864 and is in substance the recognized rule 
of the road at sea throughout the commer- 
cial world. Act of Congress of March 3, 
1849, provides that steam vessels under way 
at night on the Great Lakes shall show the 
white, green and red lights substantially, 
as at present. 



382 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



EXPERIMENTS WITH ARTIFICIAL 
WINGS 



English Scientists' Feathered Craft Has Lifting 
. Power of 100 lbs. in Each Wing 

Several English scientists are conducting 
some interesting and promising experi- 
ments with a pair of artificial wings oper- 
ated by a 3%-hp. gasojine engine. It has 
been found that in a bird the wings are so 
shaped, and the feathers in the wing so 
shaped and located, that during the up- 
ward movement of the wing there is the 
least possible resistance to the air, and even 
that considerable air actually passes through 
the wing. On the downward stroke the 
reverse is true, as the feathers close and 



The American inventor, C. E. Irish, used 
strong turkey wing feathers in construct- 
ing his flying-machine. Altogether the 
machine has 26 pairs of wings and thou- 









,. ■^ ;r .» < ..- ■ 


"*' :i >531l 






^L^\ 


^P^ 




ppf 


zZ^-~ 


^rS^f 


:§§ 




c 




i 


-~~~~i 


» ■ 


^ ■ i 


tj 


- - ■ < - 

■-*■■■■ / 
• • J 


> 







Ready to Be Launched on the Air»=Ohio 

not only afford a lifting motion but a for- 
ward one as well. 

As a result of these observations they 
constructed a pair of mammoth wings as 
nearly approaching those of a crow as pos- 
sible. These wings were hung from a frame 
in such a way that a rise of 2 ft. was possi- 
ble. To the wings was attached the en- 
gine and machinery for wagging, and the 
whole was mounted on four wheels to per- 
mit a forward motion. The wings measured 
20 ft. from tip to tip and had 60 sq. ft. of 
surface, and were operated at 100 flaps per 
minute. It was found that at this speed 
the wings lifted bodily the engine and 
machinery, weighing 232 lbs., the limit of 
the confined space— 2 ft. In other words, 
each wing was estimated to have a lifting 
power of more than 100 lbs., together with 
a considerable forward movement. 

An Ohio inventor is working along some- 
what similar lines, except that his wings 
are made of real feathers, while in the Eng- 
lish experiments the "feathers" were arti- 
ficial. 




One of the 26 Pairs of Wings-=Ohio 

sands of feathers were required for them, 
every feather being glued into place sepa- 
rately. The wings are attached to a light 
framework, shaped somewhat like the 
breastbone of a bird. The machine is 
mounted on wheels and to start it must 
first be run down an incline, then launched 
on the air by taking an upward tack. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



383 




'They Constructed a Pair of Mammoth Wings. "===English F!ying=Machine 



No engine is provided for propelling this 
craft, the inventor declaring that by a 
scientific study of birds and application of 
their principle of flight, he will eventually 
accomplish with his machine what every 
one else has fallen short of: The free, un- 
trammeled navigation of the air. In flight, 



entirely on manipulation of the wings. 
Mr. Irish proposes to utilize gravity by 
making a sudden upward tack every time 
the machine gains a certain degree of ac- 
celeration by downward flight. His pro- 
ject, though still a dream, forms a unique 
chapter in the certain evolution of aerial 



the control of the machine will depend navigation. 




A Single Wing—American Experiment 



384 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



DEVICE TO RESCUE SUNKEN SUB- 
MARINES 



Submarine Sailing Most Perilous of All Work Un- 
dertaken by Army or Navy 



The operating of a submarine boat is to- 
day the most perilous of all duties required 
of soldiers or marines. Every time the 




The Lost "Farfadet" 



officers and engineers enter one of these craft 
and hear the hatches close above them, 
they do so with the full knowledge that they 
may never return alive. The service re- 
quires not only men who are highly pro- 
ficient in the operation of the delicate ma- 
chinery which operates the craft, but men 
who do not know what fear of danger is. 
The failure of any one of a hundred parts 
of machinery means death in its most ter- 
rible form. Not annihilation in an instant, 
as with the bursting of a shell, or a maga 
zine, but death painful in the extreme, and 
extending over several hours, as inch by 
inch the supply of air is steadily consumed, 
until finally the last vestige of vitality is 
exhausted and the victim who has lain help- 
less through an eternity of torture sinks into 
a grateful unconsciousness. 

The four disasters to submarine boats dur- 
ing the past few months, with the accom- 
panying terrible loss of life, is causing en- 
gineers to seek -some method of relief. The 
accident to the French submarine "Farfa- 
det," in which the 13 occupants died, was es- 
pecially heartrending. When the dive was 
made one of the hatches was poorly secured 
and water poured into the vessel, which 
sank to the bottom in deep water. Divers 
who were sent down reported signals from 
the men confined for two days, showing 
they lived until the supply of compressed 
air was entirely exhausted. Time and again 
the boat was brought to the surface, only 
to slip from the hoisting ropes and chains 
before the prisoners could escape. Mean- 
while the agonized members of their fam- 
ilies stood on the docks day and night, 
watching the efforts of the wrecking crews. 

The "Farfadet" was maneuvring in the 
harbor of Sidi Abdallah, Tunis, and de- 
scended at 9 a. m. on July 6, and was final- 
ly recovered on July 15. Every attempt at 
hoisting with ropes and chains failed owing 
to the inability to securely attach them. A 
floating dock was finally sunk, the subma- 
rine pulled onto the dock, and the dock in- 
flated with air, when it came to the surface 
with its burden. 

An English naval architect, S. H. Terry, 
now suggests the use of two steel buoys, 
one to be carried in a recess in each end of 
the boat. These buoys to be 3 ft. diam- 
eter by 2 ft. 6 in. deep, with a lifting 
power of 500 lbs. each. To each buoy 
would be attached a steel rope with a 
breaking strain of 120 tons, the rope 
wound around a drum. When a submarine 
becomes disabled and unable to rise, levers 
within the boat would release the buoys 
which would immediately rise to the surface, 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



385 






STEEL BUOY 

FILLED WITH AIR 




G* 



Fig. I 




fig. 2 



Proposed Plan to Rescue Sunken Submarines 



taking the ropes with them. By means 
of these ropes almost any other hoat could, 
raise the submarine without loss of time. 
The buoys would also greatly facilitate the 
location of the boat. Mr. Terry says: 

"As it seems scarcely likely that the field 
of work of submarines will ever be in deep 
water— deeper than, say, 120 ft. to 150 ft— 
and as, if they work in water deeper than 
this they may possibly collapse, I have only 
provided for salving them from a moderate, 



reasonable and workable depth— such a 
depth, in fact, as that in which those la- 
mentable disasters usually take place. Had 
such lifting powers been available in the 
case of the A 1, near the Warner lightship, 
or in the A 8, the vessels could have been 
at once within half an hour, brought to the 
surface, and all lives saved. 

"I abstain from all comments on the 
structure of the boats which renders the 
openi-ng of a hatch nearly awash a necessity 











■■■B^ap^^j 




. . ... _ 


:" ] .19 




I If 




P^l 


Illy 


w 




■ 








1 


r , . ; ■'■- 


Ef ' 


V 


It ■ 
I 

9-y .'' i 






Jr 


m 






■*' .■'■?''■ i 


a ! ' '' A * '■■Ja 


» ^lJk 


f s, 


A 1 


i s 





Divers Trying to Communicate with the Imprisoned Crew=«Placing Slings for Raising the Vessel 



386 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



when men have to pass in and out, and 
on the regulation which compels them to 
wear a dress in which it is next to impos- 
sible to swim. 

"It is evident that when submarine boat 
drill takes place, a salvage vessel, with all 
diving apparatus, and with lifting apparatus 
should accompany the boats." 

•» « » 

LEARNING TO RUN A TROLLEY CAR 



PORTABLE SUCTION GAS PRO* 
DUCER AND ENGINE 



Less skill is actually required to run a 
trolley car than to drive a horse car, es- 
pecially if the trolley car has air brakes, as 
most of them have in these days. At the 
same time there are certain essentials with- 
out which a man is not safe to trust out on 
a busy street with such a forcible affair 
as an electric car with full power turned 
on. 

The horse car drivers used to learn on a 
lit'Je piece of unused track kept for the 
purpose back of the street car barns; the 
motormen on the large city lines learn in 
a school provided for the purpose by the 
company. In this school a row of control- 
lers such as are found on the street cars, 
are set up on a platform and here the stu- 
dents, 10 at one time, are instructed in the 
arts of starting and stopping a car and work- 
ing the hand and air brakes. The instruc- 
tor also stands on a platform where he can 
watch the work of the men as he gives the 
bell signals again and again until the good 




Courtesy St Ry. Journal 

Teaching Motormen 

ones are retained and the dull ones rejected. 
The most difficult part is to teach tne men 
how to operate their cars without using 
more power than is necessary. 



All electric arc lamps in London will be 
replaced with incandescent gas lights for 
street lighting. With the improved gas 
lamp, it is said, ten times as much light is 
procured as with the electric arc light, at 
the same cost. 



The success of the suction gas producer 
in connection with stationary engines in 
England has led to the manufacture of a 
portable type. The outfit illustrated is 12% 
h. p. and weighs 5 tons. The truck frame 




Portable Gas Producer 

is steel with as much of the machinery as 
possible carried close to the ground. The 
gas producer is air cooled, thus greatly re- 
ducing the amount of water required. A 
small quantity of water from the canopy 
is allowed to flow into the coke scrubber, 
so as to keep the coke moist, and more thor- 
oughly to cleanse the gas before passing to 
the engine. 



TUNNELS TO REPLACE SNOW 
SHEDS 



Millions of dollars will be spent by the 
Central Pacific railroad in constructing tun- 
nels through the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
This will be done to save the great sums an- 
nually required to maintain the present 
snow sheds and at the same time secure 
shorter routes and reduced grades. Five 
great tunnels are already decided on, one of 
them five miles long. The snow shed was 
considered a marvel of engineering when 
first established, but will soon become a 
thing of history. 



In 1904 this country produced 27,644,330 
tons of iron and consumed in manufactures 
30,224,910 tons. In 1902 we consumed 35,- 
886,921 tons (highest record ever made); 
and in 1903, 34,232,399 tons. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 387 

WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY IN THE AMERICAN NAVY 




Cooyrlght, 1905, bj Waldon F»»cett 



The Wireless Telegraph Station installed on Board the " Chicago' 



388 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



CURING OF CEMENT BLOCKS 

(Excerpts from paper by James Wimmer, read before the Iowa 
Cement Users' Association ] 



I, of course, consider nothing but the 
perfect block. This means sharp, clean 
sand, good cement, proper proportions, 
thoroughly mixed, thoroughly tamped, and 
placed in the shade. A block well made 
but badly cured, is worthless, and a block 
poorly made and well cured is worthless, so 
great care must be taken in all stages of 
block manufacture. 

One of the most important features of 
block manufacturing is the curing process. 
A block must cure uniformly. The primal 
requisite in proper curing is water, and 
plenty of it. No stated time can be given 
for beginning the sprinkling, as all depends 
on the atmospheric conditions. Some days 
you can begin sprinkling three hours after 
the block is molded, while at other times 
five to eight hours will elapse before you can 
apply water with safety. The moment you 



We hear of some people who advocate the 
process of curing blocks -under water. My 
actual experience tells me this is a failure, 
for two reasons: First, it is not practical; 
second, it means extra labor and expense. 
Imagine what an area it would require to 
submerge the product of five days' labor, 
which means about 600 blocks from the 
average machine. 



COMBINED LOCOMOTIVE AND CAR 



An English firm is building some novel 
combination locomotive-cars for the Hun- 
garian State Railways, with the prospect 
that the same type will be adopted on Eng- 
lish roads for light service. The car weighs 
14 tons, of which one-half is on the drivers, 
and carries 33 passengers in two compart- 
ments. The engineer and machinery occupy 
a third compartment, while a fourth is used 
by the conductor and "guard." 

The engine is a high speed horizontal 




Weight 14 Tons; Speed 30 
detect the face of outer surface turning 
light, it is a sure sigh the blocks need water, 
and they must be sprinkled as often as this 
is noticed. You can not make them too wet. 
This process should continue for at least 
forty-eight hours, or until the block can be 
removed from the pallets, lathed and piled. 
By lathing each tier the blocks dry uni- 
formly. This water cure continues from 
five to eight days. All of our sprinkling is 
done with hose and spray, and this is care- 
fully attended to by one man. We have 
found that blocks can only be successfully 
cured by one experienced man. What is 
everybody's business is nobody's business, 
and the blocks can not and must not be 
neglected. 



Miles; Carries 33 Passengers 

compound with cylinders 4.7 in. and 7 in. 
diameter with 5%-in. stroke, and runs at 
600 r. p. m., producing 35 h. p. The engine 
is suspended from the truck and drives by 
means of a spur gear, of which there are 
two for securing power in starting, or speed 
when running, as required. The gears are 
thrown in or out by a friction clutch. The 
boiler is vertical 32 in. diameter, 45 in. high, 
and fired from the top through a central 
tube; it carries 270 lbs. steam. The car 
makes 30 miles an hour, using 6% lbs. coal 
and 4% gal. water per mile, and is intended 
for short or branch lines or for late serv- 
ice where it would not pay to operate a 
train. Cost of operation is 15 cents per 
mile. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



389 



EFFECT OF IRON AND PNEUMATIC 
TIRES ON ROADWAY 



JAPANESE TEACHING RUSSIAN TO 
RUSSIANS 



Dust on roadways is largely caused by 
the chopping action of the sharp pointed 
steel shoes worn by horses. If the horses 
could be removed and all wheels rubber- 
tired there would be 
comparatively little 
dust. The effect of 
an iron tire is to dig 
into the softer por- 
tions of the road 
surface, and to crush 
Iron Tire Crushes unev en portions. 

Technics, London, illustrates the effect of 
the two tires. The pneumatic tire flattens 





How a Pneumatic Tire Absorbs an Obstacle 

like a ribbon, and adjusts itself to the in- 
equalities of the surface, but in resuming 




Uj^ ' ^yij^ 



How a Pneumatic Tire Thows Up Dust Without 
Pulverizing the Road 

its shape throws off the particles which 
have been raised by the vacuum it produces. 



An old man at Mirror Lake, Wis., employs 
a unique method of propelling his boat and 
fishing at the same time. At the stern of 
the boat is a paddle wheel like those used 
on river steamers. A chain runs on cogs 
from the wheel to a crank, which the old 
man turns with one hand while he handles 
his lines with the other. 



The structural steel business is lively this 
year, and it is said that the demand for 
material for railroad bridges exceeds for- 
mer years considerably. Other branches 
are likewise rushed. There is much new 
railroad work and the orders for equipment 
and track supplies are pouring in. 



One of the most unexpected things that 
has ever occurred in connection with any 
Avar is now being successfully done at 
Himeji, Japan. At this town are confined 
the 70,000 Russian prisoners of war, mostly 
from Port Arthur, nine-tenths of whom are 
illiterate. With a desire to improve their 
minds the Japanese government has estab- 
lished in the prison a school to teach the il- 
literate Russians their own language. The 
Japan Daily Times says: "Thanks to the 
teaching, those soldiers who were totally il- 
literate are now able to write letters to their 
homes. It is stated that the authorities of 
the quarters are receiving inquiries from 
Russia asking if the letters were really writ- 
ten by the senders." 

This certainly is one of the most unusual 
events ever produced by any war, and is 
as creditable to the Japs as it is valuable 
to the Russians. The Kobe Daily News now 
issues an illustrated weekly called "Japan 
and Russia" for the prisoners. "The maga- 
zine is to keep the 70,000 Russian prisoners 
now in this country informed about the 
general situation at the front and the at- 
titude of the various powers in connection 
with the war, as well as to acquaint the 
prisoners with the characteristics of our 
people, thus preparing the way for mutual 
friendship and confidence between the two 
nations after the restoration of peace. The 
first number contains nearly twenty beauti- 
ful illustrations in half tone." 

No wonder the Russians are not over 
anxious about being released. 



SAULT SAINTE MARIE CANAL 



With suitable honors in which high gov- 
ernment officials of the United States and 
Canada participated, the fiftieth anniver- 
sary of the canal was celebrated on August 
3. This canal is the gateway to Lake Su- 
perior. The first canal was projected by S. 
T. Mason, the first governor of Michigan, in 
1839; work was begun in 1852 under gov- 
ernment control, and completed in 1855. 
The locks have been twice reconstructed 
and enlarged. The American lock is 800 ft. 
long and 100 ft wide; the Canadian lock 
1,000 ft. long. No tolls are charged. During 
the past 10 years 253,000,000 tons passed 
through the canal, a much larger traffic than 
passes through any other canal in the 
world. 



390 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



QUEER STREET CARS FOR AFRICA 



An American firm of street car builders 
are shipping some odd street cars to Cape 
Town, South Africa. These cars are divided 
into three compartments, one for first-class 



hundreds of offices hot water and ice water 
are supplied. Filtered ice water flows 
day and night throughout the year by the 
simple opening of a faucet. But not a pound 
of ice is ever taken into the building; the 
cold water, like the hot water and the elec- 




Courtesy Brill Car Co 



Cape Town, Africa, Street Car 



passengers, seating four people, and making 
a room about 6 ft. by 7 ft.; another com- 
partment for baggage; and a third for third- 
class passengers. What happens to the 
second-class passengers is not stated; per- 
haps they get out and push. The body of 
the car is 15 ft. long, with windows that 
can be pushed out of the way, making a 
semi-open car in pleasant weather. 



REFRIGERATION FOR OFFICE 
BUILDINGS 



The modern sky-scraper office building, 
with as many acres of floor space as a good- 
sized pasture, is not only heated and lighted 
with its own plant, but in each of the 



.trie light, has its own individual "plant." 

The refrigerating plant is similiar to those 
used in cold storage houses. Such a plant 
in one of the new buildings in Chicago has 
a capacity of 800 gallons of filtered drinking 
water per hour at a temperature of 35 deg. 
The temperature of the water on the 20th 
story is 45 deg. The refrigerating machin- 
ery is operated by electric motors, and after 
the water is cooled it is pumped by electric 
pumps through pipes to all parts of building. 
From drinking warm water from a jug 
brought out to the harvest field by a bare- 
footed boy, to imbibing filtered ice water at 
40 deg. in the palatial office of the up-to- 
date building is a long step, but many of 
the best men now occupying luxurious quar- 
ters have made the trip. 




Water Cooling Plant in the Largest Office Building in the World; Chicago 



ENCYCLO PEDIA 



391 



WHY RAILS FAIL IN SERVICE 



BIGGEST AIR=SHIP EVER BUILT 



A good rail is of the utmost importance, 
but very few of the millions who ride in 
safety over the thousands of miles of steel 
have any conception of the skill and care 
required to produce a first quality rail. 
When rail is being rolled a careful selec- 
tion is made not only of the steel itself but 
any rails which show imperfections are 
either thrown out or sold as "seconds", and 
used for laying side tracks or on lines 
where the traffic is light or infrequent. 

Notwithstanding the rigid inspection 
through all the process of making, shipping 
and laying, a rail may be perfect to all ap- 
pearances, and yet be unsound within. 
This condition can only be discovered by 
sawing up the rail, making 'it unfit for use, 
or by demonstration under actual service. 
Fortunately unsound rails rarely ever give 
way all at once, but show their unfitness 
by a gradual breaking down, so that there 
is opportunity to take them up before a 
condition of serious danger occurs. 

An eastern road, which has made unusual 
records, covering a period of many years, 
gives the following as the chief causes of 
rail failure in service: (1) Pipes in the 
steel; (2) Presence of a considerable pro- 
portion of blowholes; (3) Excessive segre- 
gation; (4) Coarse granular structure; (5) 
Rough handling. 

Robert Job, chemist for the Philadelphia 
& Reading Ry., says: "To sum up, the re- 
mits of our investigation indicate that the 
greater part of the difficulty which occurs 
today with rails under heavy traffic is due 
to unsound condition of the steel, a condi- 
tion which existed in comparatively slight 
degree in the earlier rails." 



The biggest air-ship ever built made a 
successful ascent to 2,400 ft. from the Alex- 
andra Palace, on July 22. The ship has a 
cigar-shaped gas bag 150 ft. long, beneath 
which is a bamboo frame and deck 123 ft. 
in length. It is propelled by two 50-hp. 




100-hp. Air=Ship 

gasoline engines, which drive four propel- 
lers. The ship was built for the English 
War Department. Four aeronauts made the 
ascent, the ship having the greatest lifting 
power of any yet built. The descent was 
successfully accomplished, but, owing to an 
accident while landing, the balloon had to 
be cut open and the car was wrecked. 




Pipe in Steel 



Unsound SteeL=Service 
Five Weeks 



Unsound Steel—Service 
Five rionths 



392 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



TO CLEANSE MERCURY 



Put a 10 per cent solution of nitric acid in 
an iron ladle and add the mercury. Place 
the ladle over a blacksmith's forge, says 
Machinery, until the nitric acid boils. The 
dirt will rise to the top and the mercury, 
perfectly clean, remain at the bottom. Do 
not let the mercury boil, the fumes are poi- 
sonous 



HOW LIONS ARE CARRIED 



For some reason, not stated, the express 
companies object to carrying lions as they 
do large dogs with simply a tag attached 
and the charges guaranteed. Each spring 
and fall a large number of these fierce ani- 
mals have to be carried to or from winter 
quarters. 




The King of Beasts Powerless 

The moving of these ferocious beasts from 
railroad cars to dens would be a dangerous 
and difficult job were it not for the use of 
what is known as a "carrying cage," and 
also the skill of the workmen. This carry- 
ing cage is so built that the lion, if he be a 
large one, once inside has no room to move 



either forward or back. The sides are of 
heavy planks which are reinforced with iron. 
The front is barred and the door at the rear 
is made simply of strong timbers. The cage 
is carried by means of cleats or handles 
along each side. 

When a lion is to be transferred from his 
traveling den to the carrying cage, the two 
cages are placed end to end and then the 
doors are opened. In the front end of the 
carrying cage a piece of meat is placed, 
whereupon the lion leaps wildly toward it. 
As soon as he has passed the threshold the 
door of the carrying cage is closed behind 
him and he finds himself unable to back up, 
go ahead or turn around. Several men sit 
on top of the cage as the lion makes the leap 
forward. This keejps the cage from tipping 
over. For a very large lion it is sometimes 
necessary to employ a half dozen men in 
carrying the cage. 



NEW SUGAR BEET HARVESTER 



A new beet harvester which saves from 
$5 to $12 per acre over the old way of gath- 
ering sugar beets is now on the market. It 
consists of a knife something like a plow- 




Beet Digger 

share, which cuts off most of the foliage. 
This is followed by a roller which carries 
a topping knife, and conforms closely to the 
unevenness of the ground, and cuts off the 
stems close to the beet. The diggers which 
in turn follow remove the beets and throw 
them out upon the ground. These several 
operations are all performed by the one 
machine drawn by a team of horses at an 
oidinary walk. 



GREAT LAKES SHIPYARDS BUSY 



All the large ship building yards on the 
great lakes are full of work and their ca- 
pacity engaged for eighteen months to 
come. Sixteen mammoth vessels are under 
contract besides many smaller craft. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



393 



THE FIRST SUBMARINE 



Invented by an American 100 Years Ago==CaIled the "Plunging Boat" and 

Declared Impossible 



A full century ago an ingenious Ameri- 
can, Bushnell by name, conceived the idea 
of a submarine boat. Instead of the mod- 
ern firing torpedo he planned to bore a hole 
in the wooden bottom of a vessel and so 
attach a charge of powder 
which was to be fired by == 
means of a clockwork mech- 
anism. 

Bushnell's "plunging 
boat" bears little resem- 
blance in shape to the sub- 
marine of today, but did 
embody all its main con- 
ditions. It was egg-shaped, 
resembling two large tor- 
toise shells joined at the 
edges. 

Propulsion was secured 
by means of two crude pro- 
pellers worked by hand, in- 
tended to give either a ver- 
tical or horizontal move- 
ment to the boat. The 
"torpedo" consisted of a 
magazine of 150 lbs. of 
powder to be exploded when 
the clockwork reached a 
certain point. This explod- 
ing machine had to be set 
going before the boat start- 
ed on its errand, hence the 
obvious necessity of the 
operator losing no time in A. Air pipes. 
placing it in position and £ ¥% d sl4r c ™ uge , Seating depth oj 

making his escape. A trial submarine below surface of sea. 

was actually made in New g; *%£%. introducing W ater into 

York harbor in 1776, but tanks. 

Bushnell experienced the F - P - Fo /r e J" a % f< "' rcmovin s water 

Same difficulty his more B.P. .Bilge force pump for ejecting leak- 

modern snpppssni's ha™ a & ™ ater - 



declared a success, was not actually used in 
warfare. Not until 100 years after the ef- 
forts of these two daring inventors did the 
hornet of the deep become a recognized 
means of warfare. 




Section of Bushnell's Submarine, 



successors have 
found— that of finding the enemy after his 
boat was submerged. While he was still 
searching, the clock ran down and the 
magazine went up, but strange to relate he 
escaped. The boat had a lead ballast which 
could be released when the operator de- 
sired to come quickly to the surface. Water 
ballast was employed, with a hand force 
pump for ejecting it when desired. 

In 1800 Fulton, also an American, built 
a submarine in France, with money fur- 
nished by Napoleon, which, although 



G. Water tanks for adjusting buoyancy 

of vessel. 
H. Lead ballasting weight. 
J. Detachable lead weight. 
K. Steering rudder. 
L. Magazine. 

M. 150 lbs. percussion powder. 
N. Clockwork for exploding powder. 
O. Strut. 

P. Propeller for horizontal propulsion, 
Q. Propeller for vertical propulsion. 

CLEANING THE GOVERNMENT MINT 



Last year $21,240 worth of gold dust was 
scraped from the nineteen chimneys of the 
United States mint during the annual clean- 
ing. During the year $50,000 of gold and sil- 
ver dust were swept from the floors of the 
mint, while thousands of dollars were recov- 
ered by burning the work clothes of em- 
ployes. The mint cleaning for this M.' r! '- is 
now in progress, every precaution «T:tca«5 
taken against loss of any of the dusc 



w 



394 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



JAPANESE BATTLESHIP 
LAUNCHED 



' KATORI" 



The "Katori," the first of the two big first- 
class battleships now under construction in 
England for the Japanese navy was recently 
launched and in a few months will be ready 
to help uphold the dignity of Japan upon the 
high seas. The vessel was launched accord- 
ing to Japanese custom and was christened 
by a member of Japan's royalty— Princess 
Arisugawa. Instead of breaking a bottle of 
wine over the stem, when the vessel was re- 
leased a cage of red and white cloth hung 
over the stem was opened and out fluttered a 



tubes. Her total ordnance is capable of dis- 
charging 24,800 pounds of shot per minute. 
The total coal capacity of the "Katori" is 
2,100 tons. Her engines will develop 16,000 
hp. There are 20 Niclausse watertube boil- 
ers in three separate rooms. The heating 
surface is 44,000 sq. ft; grate area, 1,334 
sq. ft. The vessel will carry 980 officers and 
men. 



TIME=RECORDING CAMERA FOR 
TRAPPING MOTORISTS 




A time-recording camera has been pat- 
ented in England with which it is proposed 
to trap motorists who exceed the 
speed limit. The camera will take 
a photograph of any rapidly pass- 
ing object and at the same instant 
photographs a watch also. The 
watch is in a special case which 
has an opening for inserting a card 
bearing the date. 

To trap motorists, the over- 
speedy car is photographed by an 
officer with a time-camera at each 
end of a pre-determined stretch of 
boulevard and on the difference in 
the recorded time and the distance 
traversed the speed is determined, 
while the occupants of the car may 
be identified by photograph, also. 

Each watch has a registered 
number, and is sealed in its case, 
making a trustworthy record for 
court use. 



FOOD DEPOTS ON DESERT 
ISLANDS 



The New Japanese Battleship "Katori' 

flock of pigeons and a shower of confetti— 
a Japanese ritual to their war god Kashima. 
The "Katori" had the heaviest launching 
weight, 9,400 tons, of any 7 vessel ever put 
into the water. When completed she will 
have a displacement of 15,950 tons. Her 
dimensions are: Length between perpen- 
diculars, 420 ft; beam, 78 ft.; draught, 20 
ft. She is designed for a speed of 18% knots. 
Her armament will comprise four 12-in. 
guns, four 10-in. guns, twelve 6-in. guns, 
twelve 12% pounders, three 3 pounders, six 
Maxims and five 18-in. submerged torpedo 



The New Zealand government 
lias provided for castaway crews 
by establishing depots where food 
and clothing may be obtained on 
several islands off the coast. Not 
long ago a French crew, ship- 
wrecked and cast upon the Auckland 
islands, were sustained for a consider- 
able period by this thoughtful provision. 
At most of the islands a boat is left, also, 
while finger posts point out the way to the 
depots. The government steamer visits 
most of the islands twice a year, and no 
island is visited less than once a year. 

♦ » » 

The policemen of Chicago have discovered 
a new method of dealing with auto scorch- 
ers. A bullet hole in one tire brings them 
to a stop every time. 



MOTORC YCLE S IDE CAR 

Ingenious Runabout for City Streets or Country Roads== 
Makes 35 Miles an Hour==Will Carry 400 Lbs. 



The motorcycle side car is calculated to 
meet the wants of that large number of 
people who have use for a motor vehicle, 
but who cannot afford the more expensive 
machines; also for doctors and business men 
who have more or less running around the 
city where better time can be made with 
the small vehicle. The motorcycle side car 



is the intermediate carriage between the 
motorcycle and the automobile, though cost- 
ing only a little more than the former and 
only one-third the price of the cheapest au- 
tomobiles. 

The machine illustrated weighs 175 lbs. 
and will carry a load of passengers or 
freight up to nearly 400 lbs. The gasoline 




Solid Comfort in the Motorcycle Side Seat Car-==St. Croix Johnston, Motorcycle Racer, Driving; 
I. H. Whipple, Motorcycle Expert, in Side Car 
395 



396 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 










5tw&i* 




Side Car Detached 



engine is of 2% h. p. and makes 2,500 revolu- 
tions per minute. Almost the entire weight 
is carried on the rear driving wheel, which 
is made stronger than the others. The front 
and side wheels are idlers. A gasoline sup- 
ply for 60 miles is carried; the machine will 
cover 30 miles an hour on fairly level roads, 
and is also a good hill climber. 

The rear axle is hollow and telescopes. 
This enables the operator to reduce his 
wheel gauge to the smallest limit for city 
use, so as to wind in and out among other 
vehicles and take advantage of small open- 
ings where larger machines would be 
blocked. When out on country highways 
the axle draws out to conform to the two 
traveled paths. The change is made in a 
moment by means of a set screw. The 
wheels are 28 in. diameter, pneumatic; the 
engine is air cooled and started with the 
pedals. An effective brake is shown on the 
forward wheel in front of the fork. The 
drive is a sprocket chain, but avoids the 
disagreeable vibration heretofore incident to 
sprocket chains by use of a special friction 
clamp; this saves the tension of a rope 
drive, but preserves its good qualities with 
the obvious advantages of the sprocket. 

The side seat is carried on two elliptic 
springs, which, with pneumatic tires, gives 
very easy riding even at high speed. When 




Side Car Attached 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



397 



desired, the "side car" can be detached and 
the machine used as an ordinary motor- 
cycle. How this is done is shown in the 
cut. The motorcycle side car is thus far 
the nearest approach to the low priced auto- 
mobile which the newspapers heralded two 
years ago as in process of invention by 
Thomas Edison, but which did not mate- 
rialize. 

The motorcycle side car is already fre- 
quently seen on the boulevards and in the 
parks and bids fair to be very popular. 



PURIFYING DRINKING WATER BY 
ELECTRICITY 



DIFFICULT PIECE OF CONSTRUC= 
TION WORK 



How to get into position the immense gen- 
erators used in some water power plants has 
been a problem which has taxed the re- 
sources of many an expert engineer to the 
limit. The Electric Journal tells about one 
of these cases in the state of Maine, where 
is was found necessary to place the ma- 
chinery first and then build the power house 
to contain it, later. The illustration shows 
the revolving field of a 400-k. w. genera- 
tor being lowered down the side of a cliff. 
The single piece weighed five tons, but the 
work was, in time, accomplished safely and 
satisfactorily. 



Electricity may in time be used in every 
home for purifying drinking water. An 
electric discharge, taking place between 
two glass tubes, one inside the other, whose 
surfaces facing each other are coated with 
metal, develops ozone in the space between 
the tubes. Ozone kills germs and when 
some simpler means of developing it has 
been devised, and a kitchen apparatus 
which can be connected with the current 
from electric light wires, has been invent- 
ed for this purpose, the problem of pure 
drinking water will have been solved. A 
Frenchman is said by the Frankforter Um- 
shau, to have invented sucb an apparatus 
which works successfully. 

This apparatus consists of a small closed 
box with a metal cover which is conduct- 
ory with the bottom. The box contains an 
ozone developer, an interrupter and a tin 
tube. The ozone passes through a cotton 
stopper which frees it of dust and germs 
contained in the air and then through the 
tin tube into the water with which it is 
mixed. The action of the mixer can be in- 
terrupted at any moment. The apparatus 
will purify 60 gal. of water per hour. 









ill 


It^^ r f 


aSaftsH ^^^B^MXtFi'iL 


. ; ..;..,,.-> : M&".i .' ',."" 



Installed nachinery==Then Built Power House 



398 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



CREMATION GAINING IN FAVOR 



Cremation as a means of disposing of 
human remains is gaining greatly in favor. 
Our illustration shows the machine by 



STANDARD A. n. L. ROAD DANGER 
SIGNAL 



^SH 




•A 


jflpfl 




■■: 


— ^ =S£ ; 


i "''^Sfi 


i»l^--<^ 


1 









The American Motor League has adopted 
a standard danger sign as shown in the il- 
lustration. The sign is about 2 ft. square. 



"The Ashes Weigh 5 Lbs" 

which the ashes of a cremated body are 
weighed and an urn for containing them. 
The ashes weigh from 5 to 7 lb. and from 
75 min. to 100 min. are occupied in the 
reduction. Recent English instructions in 
regard to cremation say that coffins to be 
burned should never be made of English 
elm, nor of oak; that they must not be 
painted or varnished, and the only metal 
that may be used in them is a thin zinc 
lining. The charge for burning the re- 
mains, furnishing a simple urn for the 
ashes and three months' storage, in Eng- 
land, is but $19. 




New Standard Sign 
The League will furnish free the stencils 
for painting the signal, which can be done 
by anyone in a few minutes. 

+—-+ 

Objects of India rubber that have be- 
come brittle may be replaced in a solution 
of 1 part ot ammonia in 2 parts of water. 
In half an hour the rubber will resume its 
pliability and elasticity. — Gummi Zeitung. 



NEW CANOE LEEBOARDS 



This device is intended for open paddling 
canoes on which it is desired at times to 
carry one sail of an area of 40 to 50 sq. ft, 



passes, is % inch thick and 4 inches wide, 
and the cleat on the outer side is also % 
inch. The boards are connected by a round 




Leeboards for Sailing Open Canoes 



says the Sporting Goods Dealer. A single- 
blade paddle is used to steer with. The 
boards are made of cherry, 28 in. long and 
11% in. wide at the widest part. They will 
remain in place when either up or down. 
The upper part, through which the bar 



stick 1% inches in diameter. They are fast- 
ened to this stick by brass pins, one in each 
end, through holes bored between the boards 
proper and the cleat. To complete the at- 
tachment to the boat, the crossbar is laid 
above the thwart and lashed to it. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



399 



THE LARGEST FERRY-BOAT 
THE WORLD 



IN 



The "Solano," the largest ferry-boat in 
the world, runs on the Sacramento river in 
California, between Port Costa and Benicia. 



The train runs onto the "Solano," which has 
four tracks for her entire length, and the 
vibration when crossing is so imperceptible 
that it frequently happens the passengers 
are unaware of having been near any 
water, noting only that "the train made a 




The "Solano," the Largest Ferry=Boat in the World 



Her length is 407 ft.; beam, 65.5 ft.; depth 
of hold, 17.4 ft; gross tonnage, 3,549; net, 
3,057; nominal h. p., 2,000. Length over all, 
425 ft.; beam, outside of guards and paddle 
wheels, 116 ft. The measurements first 
given are the register measurements, the 
length being taken inside the hull from stem 
to stern. Sbe has projections on both ends 
conforming in shape to the slips and a sep- 
arate condensing engine for each of the two 
paddle wheels. Each engine in turn has 
two separate sets of boilers, eight in all, 
measuring 27 ft. 10 in. by 8 ft. 6 in. in di- 
ameter. The engine cylinders are 60 in. 
diameter, 11 ft. stroke. The engine and 
paddle on each side being separate from 
those on the other, allows the frequent run- 
ning of one paddle ahead and the other 
astern in making a landing. Since being 
launched in 1879 by the Southern Pacific R. 
R. at San Francisco, she has never been out 
of water with but one exception. This was 
necessitated only three or four years ago, by 
running on to submerged piles at high tide, 
in a fog. She is sheathed with very heavy 
copper, has run continually in almost fresh 
water, it being only a little brackish, fresher 
in winter. 

All overland passengers whose tickets 
read to San Francisco, cross at the point 
where the "Solano" is in service, unless 
comin<r by way of Southern California. 



longer stop than usual a few stations 
back." The same company that operates 
the "Solano" runs three modernly equipped 
ferries between San Francisco and the cities 
Alameda, Berkeley and Oakland. 



WAGON WHEEL HEIGHT STAND- 
ARD ADOPTED 



An effort has been made for a long time 
to secure a standard of height for farm 
wagons. The National Wagon Manufac- 
turers' Association have decided on a stand- 
ard, which will be furnished the trade as 
soon as the shops can be adjusted. 

The following heights (measured with- 
out tire) have been adopted as standard: 

Front wheels, 44 inches; rear wheels, 52 
inches. 

Front wheels, 40 inches; rear wheels, 48 
inches. 

Front wheels, 40 inches; rear wheels, 44 
inches. 

Front wheels, 36 inches; rear wheels, 44 
inches. 

These heights possess every desirable ad- 
vantage in strength and ease of draft, also 
the same gears will interchange on three 
of the beights. 



400 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



PILING TIE5 ON THE SANTA FE 



Piling railroad ties has been reduced to 
a science on the Santa Fe railroad. From 
one end of the road to the other the thou- 
sands of piles of ties along the track and 
at stations are all in accordance with def- 
inite rules and for a specific reason. The 
illustrations from the Railway Review show 



All these things, while apparently insig- 
nificant in the case of a few individual ties, 
mean the loss or saving of many thou- 
sands of dollars in the course of , a year. 
■» « » 

WHITE MICE ON SUBMARINES 

Every British submarine has, as a part 
of its crew, three white mice which draw 



No. t 




Triangular Pile. 




No. 4 




by 2 Pile. 



No. 7 




Solid Pile. 
(For Cypress Tics Only.) 



No. 5 




Edged Pile_ 
(Outside Ties io Each Course Laid on Edge.) 



No. 8 




Piling and Poles. 

(Reverse Bulls and Tops In Each Course.) 



No. 3 




by 1 Pile. 



No. 6 




. Solid Pile 8 hy fl 



No. 9 




Proper Way to Lay Sawed Ties 

or Timber. 

(Note the Year Rings all Point Downwards.) 



Scientifically Piled Ties 



the seven methods of piling ties, and also 
one for poles. 

Few people would think there was any 
advantage in laying a tie a certain side up, 
for instance. Fig. 9 indicates how sawed 
ties must be placed and the reason is ob- 
vious in that when properly laid the grain 
of the wood sheds rain better than other- 
wise. It will be noticed that in no instance 
are more than two ties allowed to touch 
the ground. Other rules require piles of 
ties to be placed out of the way of run- 
ning water during storms, and grass must 
not be allowed to grow within several feet 
of the pile, nor must decayed wood of any 
kind come in contact with the pile. 



a shilling a week pay and are given full 
naval rations. The mice are placed in a 
cage near the gasoline tanks and if there 
is any leakage, their sensitive olfactory 
nerves detect it at once and they begin 
squeaking. The crew make great pets of 
the rodents, and also draw the mice's pay 
and rations and divide it among them- 
selves. 



The Southern California melon crop this 
year is extremely large. Cold storage ware- 
huses have been built at many shipping 
points, where the fruits are cooled to about 
52° F. before loading into refrigerator cars 
for sbipment. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



401 



WIRELESS DID NOT WORK 



The big Cunarder "Caronia" is equipped 
with a powerful Marconi wireless appara- 
tus, but when she grounded on Flynn's 
Knoll recently, she was unable to commu- 
nicate by this means. 

The steamer "Deutschland" when ground- 
ed several months ago, experienced the same 
difficulty. It is suggested that the tall steel 
buildings on the lower end of Manhattan 
Island deflected the electric currents. It 
seems that there still are problems to solve 
before a perfect manipulation of wireless, 
under all conditions, is possible. 



VESSEL BLOWN UP 
RIVER 



IN CHICAGO 



Explosion Takes Place in Business District. 
Thousands Witness Spectacle 



An old vessel that after sixty years' serv- 
ice on Lake Michigan sank in the Chicago 
river and had laid there three years was 
blown up a few days ago in order to get her 
out of the way of the large liners that pass 
up and down the stream. An attempt was 
made to tow the "Winslow" out into the lake 
before blowing her up, but when she reached 
the middle of the river she sank and could 



,,-*JhB ■&!;■ 


IPS 


mk 


■?*"' 


■■■..■ 

i . _ ; a ii __ k i ■- ,: ' : ' ' ■■ - 





'Water and Wreckage Were Blown 50 Feet into the Air" 



RAILWAYS IN JAPAN 



Japan already operates 4,500 miles of 
steam railway, all under government reg- 
ulation, with 1,344 miles owned and oper- 
ated by the government. These roads are 
capitalized for $57,706 and bonded for $10,- 
794 per mile, against an average in the 
United States of $30,719 of stock and $3'2,- 
494 of bonds, per mile. The gross earn- 
ings per mile in Japan are $12,780 against 
$9,301 here, while the net- earnings per mile 
are $6,727 in Japan and only $2,887 in this 
country. 

Owing to the cheapness of labor Japa- 
nese roads can operate for 47.3 per cent of 
earnings; the average cost in the United 
States is 68.96 per cent or earnings. 



not be budged. Divers were sent down to 
puncture the vessel's sides and she was 
loaded with dynamite in five different places. 
The explosion that followed blew her into 
thousands of fragments, sending the water 
50 ft. into the air and affording vast enjoy- 
ment to the thousands of spectators who 
crowded the Dearborn and Clark street 
bridges. The explosion took place in one of 
the busiest districts, lined on either side 
with tall building's, but apparently did no 
harm. 



There were produced in the United 
States during 1904 a total of 117,063,421 
bbl. of crude petroleum, valued at $101,- 
170,466, or an average of 86.4 cents per 
barrel. 



402 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




STANDARD MAIN LINE LOW STAND 
SWITCH STAND: To change the switch it is" 
necessary to raise the handle or lever from its 
present vertical position to a horizontal position 
before it can be moved to the left, which action 
shifts the switch-points. The lever is then 
pushed down until it occupies the notch shown, 
when the lever can be locked with a padlock, and 
the switch-points held firmly. 



WRECK 0FTHE1M10UR 
RACER 

Accident Caused by a Switch-=Was It 

Maliciously Thiown=-Or Was It 

"Sprung" by the Wheels 

of the Locomotive? 



Before the 18-hour racers had scarcely 
been inaugurated the terrible disaster on 
the Lake Shore concentrated the attention 
of the public on the undertaking. The Lake 
Shore route is 56 miles longer between Chi- 
cago and New York than the Pennsylvania, 
but the extra distance is probably fully off- 
set by its easier grades and freedom from 
curves incident to the mountains of Penn- 
sylvania. 

The distance to be covered is 960.6 miles 
via Lake Shore, requiring an average speed 
of 53.66 miles per hour; and 904 miles, or an 
average of 50.9 miles for the Pennsylvania, 
for an 18-hour run. But out of this must 
come several stops and time lost on heavy 
grades, hence the actual running must av- 
erage practically 60 miles an hour. But 60 
miles an hour is nothing new, and is ex- 
ceeded every day in the year on many 
roads for short spurts, and not infrequent- 
ly over an entire division. The 10 per cent 
in time saved over the 20-hour run would 
seem to increase the risk in at least some 
degree: a man walking is' less apt to stum- 
ble than one running as fast as he can. 




STANDARD SPLIT SWITCH used on high speed main lines On a double track road this 
would be called a "facing-point" switch if trains moved from left to right of the illustration. 
It was such a switch that side-tracked the flier and caused the wreck. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



403 




Wreck of the .Lake Shore Flier, from Photograph taken the morning after the accident. No;e 
position of Locomotive, which has completely turned around. 



In its issue previous to the accident the 
Railway Age said: "Looking at the prob- 
lem as an operating possibility, the prin- 
cipal question is one of organization, or, 
perhaps, it should be said, of organization 
and facilities. * * The possibility is de- 
pendent partly upon easy grades and light 
curvature, but more upon superior facili- 
ties, excellent administration to the minutest 
details, and esprit du corps. * * The 
alertness to save seconds that characterizes 
the operations of these 18-hour fliers puts 
to shame the sleepy dillydallying at way 
stations and junction points of the train 
service generally on most lines * * And 
it may be remarked that, if an accident 
shall happen to one of the 'fliers,' it will 
be charged popularly to the high speed, 
even if that may have nothing to do with 
the case." 

The real cause of the accident may never 
be known to the general public. It may be 
the switch was maliciously turned; it is 
possible it was left open through careless- 
ness, and not a few operating railroad men 
incline to the belief that one of the pilot 



wheels spread the switch. As any one 
knows who has ever rode in the cab, a loco- 
motive at high speed has two motions in 
addition to that of advancing. There is the 
rolling motion from side to side and, at fre- 
quent intervals, depending upon the condi- 
tion of the track, a pitch like a boat at sea. 
This is caused by passing from a solid road 
bed to a less yielding one, or by passing- 
over a joint in which the end of one rail is 
slightly higher than that of the other. This 




causes the wheels to follow a parabolic 
curve, which is shown in an exaggerated de- 
gree in the illustration. The flange of the 
wheel when in good condition is only 1% 



404 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



in. deep uy % Ih. thick, and if at the mo- 
ment of making the "jump" there should 
also occur the roll or oscillating motion it is 
easily understood how the wedge-like flange 
might fail to come down inside the rail, but 
instead, fall on the top, or head of the rail. 
If, again, this should happen exactly at the 
moment of going on to a point switch, it 
is not difficult to comprehend what would 
he almost sure to happen. 

Some two-track roads are eliminating in 
every possible case, switches in which the 
point is toward the oncoming train, and are 
using only a run-off switch. This, of course, 
necessitates a train passing the switch and 
then backing down to take the side track, 
but it provides a switch that is practically 
just as safe as main line. 



COLORED WOOD FOR FURNITURE 



Colored woods are now used for furni- 
ture, panels, doors, and for fitting ships 
;md tramcars. In 1901 an Austrian discov- 
ered a method of coloring the wood when 




New Styles in Colored Chairs 

rresh. The tree, having been cut while the 
sap is in action, is colored by forcing the 
dye, under heavy pressure, into the wood 
until it replaces the sap. Lengths of 13 ft. 
can be colored at one time. Beech, birch 
alder, maple, elm and basswood take the 



colors best and the gay colors look best 
when polished. The amount of waste 
makes the price comparatively high. 
+-++■ 

WIRELESS ON MOVING TRAINS 



Interesting and successful experiments 
are being made by the Alton road in send- 
ing and receiving wireless messages by 
the De Forest system from its passenger 
trains between Chicago and St. Louis. 

Signals were very weak while crossing 
the Merchant's Bridge over the Mississippi 
river on account of interference of the 
steel trusses, but where the track runs 
along the river the signals increased in 
strength remarkably. Another phenome- 
non was that better results were obtained 
when the train was at right angles to the 
sending station. . Several trains will im- 
mediately be equipped for communication 
with stations now located at Chicago, 
Springfield and St. Louis. 



LOCATING FISH BY TELEPHONE 



A microphone enclosed in a hermetically 
sealed steel box, towed overboard and con- 
nected with a telephone on a ship, is the 
device by which a Norwegian proposes to be 
apprised of the presence of fish and of 
their number and kind. Herrings or small 
fish in large numbers make a whistling 
sound, codfish a howling noise and the 
microphone is expected to gather and 
transmit these sounds. 



WATER POWER FOR ELECTRIC 
ENERGY 



The amount of water power utilized has 
been estimated to be 1,500,000 horsepower in 
round numbers. The United States uses the 
largest amount, mainly on account of the 
employment of the power of Niagara Falls, 
which also secures second place to Canada. 
In round numbers in the United States about 
550,000 horsepower of electric energy is de- 
rived from water power; in Canada, 250,000; 
in Italy about 200,000; in France, 160,000; in 
Switzerland, 135,000; in Germany, 81.000; in 
Sweden, 71,000, and in other countries lesser 
amounts. As these statistics are undoubted- 
ly incomplete, the aggregate water power 
utilized for electric energy in the world is 
probably 2,000,000 horsepower, which is 
about twice the steam power used in Eng- 
land and Ireland combined. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



405 



SUBMARINE SOUND SIGNALING 



Vessels Warned Against Disaster==Sounds Originating Miles Away Received 
==May Become Important in Warfare 



Water, ever invariable in density, has 
been found to be the most trustworthy me- 
dium for conveying sound signals to ships 
in danger of going ashore or of colliding 
with other vessels in a fog. Air signals, 
experimented with and used for so long, are 
unreliable, because the density of the air 
varies, and the price of failure is too great 
for risk. Sound travels through water with- 
out divergence and with four times the ve- 
locity that it does in air. The result of this 
discovery, which was made by Professor 
Lucien I. Blake, now Professor of Physics 
in Kansas University, is a system by which 
a ship can locate a bell-buoy or a vessel 
many knots distant, the latter by means of 
the sound made by its screws. 

Mr. A. J. Mundy, of Boston, Mass., while 
experimenting, discovered that if a tumbler 
filled with a solution were placed inside and 
against an empty iron kettle floating in a 
tank of water, the bell sound in the water 
of the tank could be readily taken out of 
the solution in the tumbler by means of a 




Plan of Signaling System 

microphone immersed in it, says the Ship- 
ping World, London. Hitherto the mistake 
of trying to collect the sounds by towing 
the apparatus overboard had been made, but 



the direction of the sounds could not be de- 
termined in this way. In the system as it 
is now perfected and installed on many ves- 
sels, two tanks filled with a solution of 
greater density than sea water are attached 




Tank Enclosing Microphone 

to the inside skin of a vessel below the 
waterline, one being placed at certain fixed 
points aft and the other at certain fixed 
points above the keel. A microphone en- 
closed in a suspended watertight case is 
wholly immersed in the solution in the tank. 
One tank transmits the sounds it collects 
to the receivers in the pilot house, and the 
microphones of both tanks are connected 
by wires to the receiver in the wheel house. 
The bell sound on the port side can be com- 
pared with that on the starboard side by 
merely turning a switch and thus the 
source of danger can be immediately lo- 
cated. Officers on ships using this system 
are able to locate a submarine bell within 
one-eighth of a point. 

The transmitters are adapted to receive 
sounds of high pitch, as it was determined 
by experiment in the open ocean that a bell 
with a lip or "sound bowl" several inches 



406 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



thick and with a high musical note, gave 
the best carrying note in the water. A 
3,000-lb. bell on the end of a 1,500-ft. cable, 
60 ft. from the sea surface, and 50 ft. above 
the floor of the ocean was kept in operation 
in an exposed position on the Atlantic coast 
for one year in these tests. A very small 



KNOTS USED IN WEAVING 




Type of Bells Used 

bell of this kind could be heard 16 knots 
away. With the arrangement described, the 
microphones gather submarine bell notes 
and sounds of steamer screws so that they 
can be distinguished from other sounds. 

Some of the largest and swiftest ocean 
steamers are equipped with the system; the 
United States navy has given it great at- 
tention. Experiments in locating submarine 
and torpedo boats by this means were made 
at Newport. These vessels could be heard 
for a long distance, and it is possible that 
the system will become important in resist- 
ing submarine attacks in warfare. Two 
bells on the Nova Scotia coast can be heard 
at a distance of five miles and the Canadian 
department of marine has contracted for 
the installation of the receiving apparatus 
on thirteen vessels. 



JAPANESE TELEGRAPH 
FIGURES 



WITH 



As the Japanese have no alphabet, every 
word in their written language being rep- 
resented by its own character, they have 
contrived a unique system for use in tel- 
egraphy. The government has compiled a 
dictionary of 10,000 words commonly used 
and to each word is allotted a figure from 
one up to 9,999. The telegraph operator 
assigns the proper figure to each word of 
a message to be sent and then transmits 
the figures by the Morse code. At the 
other end of the line the message is trans- 
lated by the aid of one of the government 
dictionaries. 



In manufacturing, cloth, the yarn is most 
liable to break when it is being wound 
from any of its preliminary forms on to 
warpers' bobbins, says Technics, London. 
Fig. 1 shows the winder's or spooler's knot 
which is used to tie the threads in these 
instances. The knot is shown before tight- 
ening. The knots are an important factor 
in the quality of the cloth and sometimes 
the winders are paid a higher rate to use 
the weaver's knot shown at Fig. 2. This 
knot is very secure and after it is tied the 
ends are clipped short, making a neater 
appearance. 

Sometimes a mechanical knotter (Fig. 3) 
is used. This consists of a piece of steel 
wire, one end of which forms a hook that 
is sharpened on the inside to form a cut- 
ting edge. The wire is bent so as to bring 
the hooked and straight ends together and 
is" fixed in a handle of wood or has one of 
white metal moulded upon it. The device 




does not tie the knot and cut off the ends 
automatically, but is convenient as a hand- 
tool for the operative and helps him keep 
the short tail-ends of a uniform length. 



A remarkable gas well has been discov- 
ered at Yamachiche, Quebec, it is reported. 
The boring had reached a depth of 280 ft. 
when a flow of gas, salt water, sand and 
rocks shot into the air to a height of 200 
ft, forcing drill, derricks and trappings out 
of the well. Work on the well was stopped 
temporarily. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



407 



MOTOR POLICE PATROL WAGON 



HOW AUTOS RAISE THE DUST 



Police departments are getting the motor 
fever, and already several patrol wagons 
are in service which are motor propelled. 
The illustration shows a wagon which the 
Motor Age says weighs 4,500 pounds and 
has a low body with heavy brass railing 
on either side and a broad rear step, the 
entrance being from the rear. The opera- 
tor's seat occupies but a small portion of 
the vehicle, leaving practically three-quar- 
ters of the body accommodation for carry- 
ing purposes. All operating devices are 
closely centered around the operator. In 
front of him is the inclining steering wheel 



Largely Due to the Form of Construction of the 
Car Body 



It appears that motor cars abroad are no 
better behaved in the matter of raising 
dust, than with us. Here it is simply de- 
clared a nuisance; there the cause has 
been made a scientific study, the results of 
which are published in the London Engi- 
neer, from which we condense the follow- 
ing: 

If air were a perfect gas there would 
be little or no dust. Nothing would re- 
main suspended in the atmosphere that 




'This Vehicle Accommodates Twenty=Four Men" 



column, at his right the change speed and 
emergency brake levers, at his left a 9-in. 
reflector searchlight with generator and 
pedals in the footboard. The vehicle ac- 
commodates 24 men, 16 in the main body 
on the side seat, 2 on the front seat beside 
the driver, 2 on the rear step and 2 on the 
running board at each side. On the sides 
are large lockers for carrying such neces- 
saries as stretchers, medicine chest, coats 
and blankets. 



Ten miles of the Pittsburg, Bessemer & 
Lake Erie R. R. will be laid with steel ties 
in a test of their value in comparison with 
wooden ties. The road has ordered 2,100 
tons of the ties. 

*-++ 

Berlin's telephone system has 60,683 sub- 
scribers and connections, 15,000 of which are 
branch connections. It is said to be the 
largest system in the world. 



had a greater specific weight than air. 
Just as a feather and a sovereign fall at 
the same velocity through a vacuum, so in 
frictionless air the dust raised from a road 
would return instantly to the ground. 
Furthermore it is not clear that .any dust 
could be raised at all. In dealing with the 
question at issue, we have first to consider 
the effect of a vehicle on the air, and then 
the effect of the air on the dust. 

Let us suppose that a fan made like a 
paddle-wheel of a steamer, is caused to re- 
volve high above the surface of a dusty 
road; no effect will be produced. Let, now, 
the fan axis be gradually lowered, and it 
will be seen that as it approaches the road 
surface it will begin to raise the dust, and 
the nearer it is to the road the thicker 
will be the dust cloud. If for the fan we 
substitute a board supported at each end 
on wheels running on a gantry over the 
road, it will be found that the board will 



40S 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



raise the dust in front of it, and that this 
dust will be dragged after it in a cloud 
by the eddy action of the air following the 
moving board. The front of the column of 
air set in horizontal movement is much 
larger than the board. Many of our read- 
ers have, no doubt, seen Professor Boys' 
wonderful photographs of a bullet in flight, 
and will remember that the projectile car- 
ries with it a volume of air apparently 
clinging to it, which passes through the at- 
mosphere and sets some of it in motion at 
a comparatively slow speed. Every object 
moving through the atmosphere sets up 
currents in it — for the most part by induc- 
tion due to the friction of the molecules on 
each other, or to what is known, in other 
words, as the viscosity of the gas. All this 
may appear very elementary, but it is con- 
stantly forgotten; and whether it is or not, 
the facts seem to be usually disregarded 
by the designers of motor cars. When 
they have provided what are known as 
torpedo heads for racing cars they appear 
to think that they have done everything. 

Many persons suppose that a current of 
air runs like a river under a car in the 
direction opposite to that in which it is 
proceeding; when the car is running, wind 
is felt "blowing" on the face, and it is 
taken for granted that it is blowing all 
round the car. Of course it is doing noth- 
ing of the kind, unless the car is proceed- 
ing against a head wind. We are assum- 
ing, however, that the day is quite calm, 
and the speed, say, twenty miles an hour; 
then the subjective or physiological effect 
is the same as though the motorist stood 
still and the wind blew. There is in effect 
no rush of air backwards under the car to 
raise the dust. In reality there is a rush 
of air forwards, or in the same direction 
as that in which the car is moving, and 
this is, apart from the wheels, the princi- 
pal dust-raising factor. Let it be kept con- 
stantly in mind that if air were visible we 
should see the motor car accompanied and 
surrounded by what, for want of a better 
term, we may call a nebula. The volume 
and the velocity of the nebula augments 
with that of the car in some at present un- 
known ratio. There is reason to believe 
that once a certain speed is reached, there 
is no further augmentation in volume. But 
the fact has no interest for the motor car 
builder, for the critical speed is never 
reached on a highway. 

The first part of the problem set before 
the builder is to ascertain what form the 



vehicle should have that will give the min- 
imum volume and velocity to the body of 
air traveling with it. Probably a parabolic 
cylinder of some kind would be the best; 
but no good purpose will be served by bas- 
ing deductions on the performance of 
forms which cannot be given to motor cars, 
Again, it is not clear that the upper por- 
tion of a car has any great effect, for the 
same reason that the rotating fan men- 
tioned above will not much disturb dust 
while some feet over it. It is the lower 
part of the car — the chassis, in fact — on 
which attention may be concentrated with 
most profit; and so far it may be taken as 
proved that the higher the bottom of the 
car is above the road, and the smoother 
the surface, the less will be the dust-rais- 
ing power of the car. Several months ago 
the Automobile Club undertook and carried 
out a series of interesting experiments on 
a specially prepared track at the Crystal 
Palace. Stive or mill dust was laid down 
on a track, and cars of various forms were 
run over this track at various speeds, and 
the result photographed. The broad con- 
clusion was that cars with flat, smooth bot- 
toms nearer to the ground at the front 
than at the back raised very little dust. 
The placing of a flat leather sheet under 
a chassis converted a very bad car into a 
very good one as far as dust was con- 
cerned. The Crystal Palace experiments 
went to show that a casing further from 
the ground at the back than the front gives 



Fi 9 ' fig.2. Fig. 3. 



Surfact or Rcid 



Fi$.». 



Fig. S . 




the best results. Figs. 1, 2, and 3 show 
three forms of casing under a car moving 
in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 2 is the 
best and Fig. 3 the worst. It is not, how- 
ever, impossible that still better results 
would be obtained by making the lower 
surface in Fig. 2 curved as in Fig. 4, as 
being less likely to maintain the "drag" on 
the air which does the mischief. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



409 



THE GAS ENGINE AND NAVIGATION 

Engines Up to One Thousand Horsepower Now Practical in Marine Service™ 

Greater Speed Gained===Economy of Space===Small Expense 

===High Efficiency Attained 

The use of the gas engine in navigation of marine service, made by Herr Emil 

has, within the present year, become so Capitaine, of Frankfort, Germany. The 

promising that several prominent authori- result is a plant fitted in every way to com 

ties, among them Dr. Alfred Graclenwitz of pete with the marine steam engine up to 







ANTHFJACITeL' 
Co^,l_ POT" '..■'■ 
DOWN HERE-; ■ 
AUTbMAT(C«'U-V 



pA^ses oown rue : 
Taaexe. A ko i-, . 
3ucm:ed up 
-ThroikSh Trte 

^Petj Dyeing 

INTO fnC 

&EH1»idC C 
. W.nepfe' IT IS 

. AiFl ANO 

£xplooed 



25 M ,P- 'OA%> esiGti^e. and PRo'ouceR, 



NO SMOKCi 
NO STOKCR, 



Fig. 1. Herr Emil Capitaine's Plant 



Berlin, predicts that in time river traffic, 
with all its old life and bustle, will be re- 
sumed. That the river towns that fell into 
an hundred years' sleep when the steam 
railways began to thread the continent, will 
reawaken and be claimed by the powerful 
Prince of Commerce and that the water- 
ways will become the formidable compet- 
itors of the railways. 

This significant promise has sprung to life 
by an efficient adaptation of the gas engine 
and producer to the peculiar requirements 



outputs of 1,000 brake horsepower, or, in 
case of twin screw, 2,000 electric horsepower, 
at a cost of about 2 cents per running hour 
for a 10-hp. plant. 

Of Herr Capitaine's plant the producer 
gas installation is most important. This 
consists of a large drum (Fig. 1) lined 
with firebrick to a depth of four feet. In 
the space above this drum is a water res- 
ervoir. Coal is fed in at the top of the 
drum, automatically, until the space with- 
in is entirely filled. The fire is then started 



BH 



410 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Fig. 2. Proposed Gas Engine Installation for Warships 



and steam" raised in the reservoir, passes 
down tube ,A B, Fig. 1, and is directed on 
to the grate by means of a blowpipe; sim- 
ultaneously a current of air is injected. 
The steam and air strike a ring of incan- 
descent" coal that has formed around the 
edge of the dished plate that forms the 
grate. This plate is a little below the brick- 
lined drum, and its height is regulated by 
a rack and pinion worked by a lever 
mounted on a quadrant. The gas thus 
formed is of such high temperature that 
it is necessary for it to pass through a 
cooler and then a scrubber to clean it of 
any foreign particles before passing on to 
the motor for use as fuel. The cooler 
through which the gas passes consists of a 
drum of small diameter, at the top of which 
the gas passes round a flat cooling coil 
through which a spray of water is passed. 

The gas is purified by a jet of water and 
then, clean and cooled, passes through 
baffles at the bottom of the drum and is 
conveyed to a centrifugal drier and is then 
ready for use in the motor. 

The body of the motor used in Herr Cap- 
itaine's plant is of sheet iron, in order to 
obtain the minimum weight with max- 
imum strength. A two-cycle 30-hp. engine 
and gas generator of this type occupies a 
space 7% ft. long by 3% ft. wide by 31/21 ft. 
high and weighs two and three-fourths 
tons. The cylinders are 8.27 in. in diam- 
eter, stroke 11.02 in., normal speed 200 r. 
p. m. The motor is started by compressed 
air. A four-cycle, 600 hp. plant is being 
installed on a large commercial craft for 



demonstration purposes. Herr Capitaine has 
a launeh equipped with one of these engines, 
also. 

It is said to be improbable that a higher 
efficieney than 16 per cent will ever be ob- 
tained with marine steam engines (recipro- 
cating or turbines). The very bulE of the 
coal necessarily carried in steam naviga- 
tion imposes large dimensions in vessels. 
The radius of action of a warship would be 
doubled in value if only one-half the 
amount of coal usually carried would 
suffice, declares Dr. Gradenwitz. A perfect 
utilization of fuel is hardly to be overesti- 
mated. The small quantity of fuel re- 
quired for the gas producer and the high 
efficiency obtained brings the new gas 
plant the nearest to the ideal for the con- 
ditions of anything yet tried. And, al- 
though Herr Capitaine's plant is adapted 
only to vessels requiring up to 1,000 hp. 
because of greater stroke and larger recip- 
rocating masses, such as piston and con- 
necting rods, required, the foundation is 
laid and the question now lies only in 
adapting these parts to work in less space. 
Anthracite coal must be used for the gas 
engine, it is true, but the amount required 
is so small, that the operating expense is 
materially less than in a steam engine of 
equivalent horsepower; the speed it is pos- 
sible to attain with the gas engine is con- 
siderably higher and in its present devel- 
opment the plant is admirably adapted to 
the requirements of tugs, barges and large 
sailing vessels, meaning a saving in mil- 
lions of dollars of coal. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



411 



ELECTRIC TRAIN BULLETINS 



An ingenious electric train bulletin has 
been installed by the Chicago & Alton Rail- 
way Co. in a number of its stations and 




in some of the principal hotels in cities 
and towns through which its trains run. 
The device resembles a clock in appear- 
ance, a hand moves on a dial and indi- 
cates whether the train is on time, or if 
not, how many hours or minutes it is late. 
All these bulletins in one town act simul- 
taneously and indicate the same fact. The 
operator at the station controls them all, 
using a device similar to a telegraph instru- 
ment controlled by a telegraph key. 



NEW TYPE FREIGHT CAR WHEEL 



This wheel is called the "Bracket Arch" 
car wheel, uses a single web which ex- 
tends inward just back of the flange, and 
crossing outward meets the hub at the out- 
ward end. There are numerous reinforc- 
ing ribs extending from the hub and from 
the tread to this web. There is a large 




amount of metal massed just back of the 
flange and the throat of the wheel, which 
it is said will permit a much more rapid 
dissipation of the heat caused by the fric- 
tion of the brake shoes, and also tends to 
largely increase the strength of the flange, 
a point in which there is evidently need 
of improvement. Another feature of this 
design is that by the use of a single web 
it is possible to inspect the wheel more 
thoroughly at the hub than is possible with 
the usual double web. 

The Railway Review says: "A wheel of 
this design takes but half the time and 
pouring that a double-plate wheel requires, 
which presents the possibility of a much 
better chill." 



AUTO SPRING TO REDUCE SHOCK 



A French concern has brought out a new 
spring which is said to greatly reduce the 
shock produced by- a heavy automobile 
passing over an obstacle or along rough 
roads. The Motor News says the device 
consists of a short two-leaf spring of pe- 





'Bracket Arch" Car Wheel 



FRENCH SUPPLEMENTAL SPRING LEAF. 



A, Main spring without damper spring. B, Damper 
spring alone. C, Damper spring fittted to main 
■ spring but not drawn down. D. Damper 
spring drawn into place on main spring. 

culiar form clipped to the concave side of 
the regular semi-elliptic spring so that the 
auxiliary spring exerts its effort in a di- 
rection opposite to that of the main spring, 
thus checking the upward thrust of the 
latter after sudden and violent compres- 
sion occurs. 



IH 



412 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



THREE HUNDRED SUN POWER 



Medical Apparatus Which Concentrates the Sun's 
Rays Without Producing Heat 



The virtue of pure, unadulterated sun- 
light is as old as the first place upon which 
the sun ever shone, and medical experts in 
these days are using various light treat- 




nirrors for Concentrating Light 

rnents for numerous ailments with con- 
stantly increasing success. Dr. J. W. Kime, 
in the Journal of the American Medical 
Association, gives an interesting descrip- 
tion of his latest apparatus for concentrat- 
ing a large area of sunlight upon a small 
field, hut without burning. The doctor 
says: 

During the past six years in which I 
have made use of light in the treatment 
of tuberculosis in its various forms, I have 
constantly felt the need of a much more 
intense light than any that has yet been 
produced. 

I believe that it is impossible to obtain 
a light from any source, except the sun, 
that is sufficiently powerful to accomplish 



what we desire in this direction. The 
electric arc light is exceedingly limited, 
but, with the sun as our source of supply, 
the amount of light is unlimited, and that 
which we" may utilize depends wholly on 
the size and construction of the apparatus 
used to gather up the light. 

The illustration shows the mirror which 
I now use and the relative proportion of 
one now nearing completion. The smaller 
is three feet in diameter and contains an 
area of seven square feet, while the larger 
has a diameter of ten feet and contains an 
area of 78 square feet. It is so constructed 
that all the light falling on the entire sur- 
face is concentrated on an area of one- 
fourth of one square foot. In this manner, 
sunlight is piled up to an intensity 300 
times that of ordinary sunshine. 

Such a light would ordinarily be accom- 
panied by heat of corresponding intensity. 
Provision has here been made for the ab- 
sorption of this heat, leaving the light in 
its full strength by passing the concentrat- 
ed sunlight through 12 ins. of cold water 
which is flowing through a cooling tank 
with plate-glass sides. 

■*-•-•■ 

AUTO DRAWS HORSE 



In the earlier days of automobiles it was 
no unusual sight to see an auto come limp- 
ing back home drawn by a team of horses. 
The Automobile tells of a recent incident 
in Ohio where a farmer had a horse 
die while drawing his wagon to market. 
The farmer, desiring to take the dead 
horse home, had with help from sympa- 
thetic bystanders, loaded the animal into 
the wagon, just as an auto came along. 
The owner, amused at the unusual occur- 
rence, offered to give the farmer a tow 
home, which was accepted. 




The Horseless Carriage Taking the Horse Home 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



413 



THE STRINGER TYPE COMPOSING 
AND CASTING MACHINE 



IMPROVED ROCKET LIFE LINE 



is r 



J Q 



An English inventor named Gilbert- 
Stringer is putting on the market a ma- 
chine quite similar to 
the present linotype, but 
which casts each letter 
separately. The princi- 
pal advantage over the 
full line slug is that in 
corrections only one let- 
ter has to be inserted, 
and the time occupied 
in making an entire slug- 
is saved. The improve- 
Fig.l. Matrix ment can be a< j apted to . 

the linotype or monotype machines. 

The same keyboard is used for bringing 
down the matrices which are assembled 
loosely in the composing box. The die is 
made on one side of the matrix instead of 
in the edge as with the linotype machine. 
The thickness of the body of the type to 
be cast is determined by a notch which is 
shown at A in Fig. 1, Spacing and justi- 
fication is accomplished by means of 
wedges. After justification the complete 
line of matrices and wedges are moved to 
the left where the matrices one at a time 
are advanced to the mould. In Fig. 2 sev- 




Pin Engaging with 
slot in Matrix :■' 
Fig. 2. Process of Casting 

eral matrices have passed the mould, one 
matrix is in casting position and the re- 
mainder of the line are ready to come for- 
ward one at a time. As fast as cast each 
type letter is laid in its place in the line 
in the same order as the matrices were 
assembled, and the completed line auto- 
matically transferred to a galley. As high 
as 12,000 types have been cast in one hour 
but 6,000 to 7,000 is a good working aver- 
age. The mould is water cooled and can 
be touched by the hand without discom- 
fort, at any time. 



An English inventor gave an exhibition 
last month to naval officers of an improved 
rocket-firing gear. By this device the 
rocket can be accurately aimed, and al- 
though a short stick is used, the demon- 




Can Be Accurately Aimed 

stration showed some remarkable shots. 
The line is laid in a metal box and so 
"flaked" that it cannot foul or kink. It is 
proposed to have the rocket-firing device 
carried on all vessels, as frequently when 
a wreck occurs with the wind off shore 
the life saving crew have great difficulty 
in shooting a line out to the wreck. The 
illustration is from the Shipping World, 
London. 



USE OF CONNING TOWERS ON 
WARSHIPS DOOMED 



The use of the conning tower as the cen- 
ter of control on United States warships will 
probably be discontinued. The Japs have 
rendered Russian vessels unmanageable by 
concentrating a heavy fire on the conning 
towers. An armor-protected space low r er in 
the ship's structure may be substituted. 
The change will not only be made in new 
battleships to be built, but ships now in 
commission will be altered in this respect. 



:*j 



414 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



CARGOES UNLOAD THEMSELVES 



System Involves Lifting Vessel Out of Water Bodily 
===Cheap and Speedy 



A London firm has something new in 
systems for unloading bulk cargoes from 
vessels. The firm proposes lifting the ves- 
sel bodily out of the water on to a pontoon 
by electrically driven pumps, then through 




damaged by contact with some submerged 
substance. 

The body of the pontoon is of the width 
of the vessel to be discharged so that 
barges can lie close alongside, says the 
Shipping World. Arms at both ends and 
towers hold the vessel and pontoon stable 
during the whole process. 

The great advantages of this system are 
said to be lessened cost of discharging the 
cargo and an important decrease in the 
time occupied. On the other hand, its one 
great disadvantage lies in the fact that 
there is no means of weighing the material 
discharged without taking up too much 
time. This is a serious drawback where 
the cargo is grain, but, as at many ports, 
ore and coal cargoes are not weighed, the ■ 
intake weight, less one or two per cent be- 
ing satisfactory to consignees, the system 



1 Cross Section of Pontoon 

2 Vessel on Pontoon 



will probably come widely into use as a 
cheap and speedy means of discharging 
such cargoes. 

+~—+ 

SAWS STUDDED WITH DIAMONDS 



openings in the sides of the vessel allowing 
the coal or ore to spout out by gravitation 
into barges drawn up alongside. The lift- 
ing of the vessel, it is said, could be ac- 
complished at little expense. 

The system involves the use of cargo 
vessels of special design, having ballast 
tanks that slope downwards from the cen- 
ter of the hold, so that the cargo can fall 
by gravitation through the doors in the 
side, which are double to insure the safety 
of the vessel should one door become 



One of the saw manufacturers is turn- 
ing out on a special order several saws 
which will cost $1,000 each. These saws, 
which are circular, are for sawing stone, 
and instead of the usual teeth they are 
each fitted with 150 sockets into which is 
fastened a special blank or tooth which 
projects y 8 in. over the edge of the blade. 
In each tooth is fitted a black diamond. 
These diamonds are from the South Afri- 
can mines and cost $6 each. The saws are 
from 60 to 75 in. diameter. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



415 



NEW FLOATING COAL DEPOT FOR BRITISH NAVY 



Can Load Two Big Warships at a Time== 
Stores 12,000 Tons of Coal 



The first of a number of huge floating coal 
depots that are being constructed for the 
British navy was tested at Portsmouth, Eng- 
land., recently. The depot was tied up to the 
quay, which was supposed to represent the 
deck of a battleship and 3,000 tons of coal 
were delivered over the side and deposited 
in six hours, according to requirements. 
This, however, does not represent nearly 
the amount of work the big transporters on 
the depot can do. The deck of a battleship 
has many more obstructions than did the 



machinery and the forward-end compart- 
ment is used for crew accommodations and 
stores, says the Shipping World, London. 

The passageway made by the longitudinal 
bulkheads has numerous openings to the 
space under the hoppers, and it is from this 
place the bags of coal are hoisted. The coal 
is not shoveled, but flows into the bags, the 
hoppers being raised above the floor and 
having chutes for tapping coal from below. 

The loading apparatus consists of twelve 
transporters carried on four traveling tow- 




Testing the Handling Capacity of the Transporters on the Quay at Portsmouth 



quay used in the test, but it is stated that 
the transporters can put 600 tons of coal 
in bags aboard a battleship per hour. 

In construction the floating depot is strong 
and simple, consisting of a large, straight- 
sided, flat-bottomed hull with bluff ends and 
divided into seven compartments by six 
transverse watertight bulkheads. In the 
middle of the vessel two Iongtudinal bulk- 
heads divide the five middle compartments 
into ten coal hoppers. The after-end com- 
partment contains the electric generating 



ers, which run on a railway laid full length 
of the depot. The transporters are worked 
by electricity. There are three on each 
tower, two of them being of the inclined 
portable type, which may be used for load- 
ing the depot from the collier, or for load- 
ing a war vessel from the depot; the third 
is horizontal and will reach from the hatch- 
way of a co.llier on one side to the deck of 
the battleship on the other. 

The capacity of the floating depot is for 
11,000 tons of coal in hoppers and 1,000 tons 



416 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Hoisting Coal in Bags from Depot 

in bags, 12,000 tons in all. It has the 
equivalent of 1,000 ft. of wharf frontage, so 
that two of the biggest battleships in the 
English navy may be berthed alongside and 
coaled at the same time. 



♦ ♦ ♦■ 



TESTING A LOCOMOTIVE 



tests before sending them out for regular 
service. 

The illustration from the Railway Ag& 
shows the testing plant of the Pennsylvania 
railroad. The locomotive is run onto the 
testing frame, with the driving wheels rest- 
ing on wheels which can be moved to suit 
each case. The locomotive can then be op- 
erated at full speed and though the drivers 
are turning at a rate which would mean 80 
miles or more an hour out on the main line, 
it does not advance an inch. Numerous 
delicate recording instruments are attached 
to various parts of the locomotive, and when 
the test is ended complete records drawn 
with ink on rolls of paper form a complete 
history of how well each part has per- 
formed its work. 



SLIGHTLY WARM 



Many of the larger railroads put their new 
locomotives through a series of elaborate 



Prof. Langley says: "The heat of the 
sun is enormous beyond conception, for 
there is enough to warm two thousand mil- 
lion worlds like ours. Every minute there 
is enough of the sun's heat falling to the 
earth to raise to boiling thirty-seven thou- 
sand million tons of water. But the heat 
which thus falls on the earth is not a thou- 
sandth part of 1 per cent of what the sun 
sends elsewhere, and all the coal beds of 
Pennsylvania, for instance, though they 
can supply the country for hundreds of 
years, would not keep up this heat during 
the one thousandth part of a second." 

To a man who buys his coal by the bas- 
ket this is, to say the least, interesting. 




Balanced Compound Locomotive on a Testing Plant Ready to be Tested 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



417 



THE NEW SPELLING 



A FIRST STEP 

By The Simplified Spelling Board 



All whose mother-tongue is English believe 
that, if it is not unfairly handicapped, it will be- 
come the dominent and international language 
of the world. For this destiny it is fitted by its 
use as the medium of the widest commerce and 
the most progressive civilization, by its cosmo- 
politan vocabulary, and by its grammatical 
simplicity. No other existing speech, and none 
of the proposed artificial international languages, 
has the same adaptability to such a use. There 
is, however, a wide-spread and well-grounded 
conviction, that in its progress toward this goal 
our language is handicapped by one thing and 
one only — its intricate and disordered spelling, 
which makes it a puzzle to the stranger within 
our gates and a mystery to the stranger beyond 
the seas. English is easy, adaptable, and cap- 
able of a many-sided development; its spelling 
is difficult and cumbersome. 

Apart from its relation to the foreigner, our 
intricate and disordered spelling also places a 
direct burden upon every native user of English. 
It wastes a large part of the time and effort given 
to the instruction of our children, keeping them, 
for example, from one to two years behind the 
school-children of Germany, and condemning 
many of them to alleged "illiteracy" all their 
days. Moreover, the printing, typewriting and 
handwriting of the useless letters which our 
spelling prescribes, and upon which its difficulty 
chiefly rests, waste every year millions of dollars, 
and time and effort worth millions more. If then, 
as is certain, the reasonable and gradual simpli- 
fication of our spelling will aid the spread of 
English, with the attendant advancement of 
commerce, of democratic ideals, and of intellec- 
tual and political freedom; will economize the 
time of our school-children and make their work 
more efficient; and will aid greatly in the cheap- 
ening of printing, is it not a matter which appeals 
to common sense, to patriotism, and to phil- 
anthropy? 

Some of those who would like to see our spell- 
ing made simpler, fear that this will obscure 
the derivation of words; but all etymologists 
deny the statement and repudiate the argument. 
Etymology is history, and is now secure in innu- 
merable books. Some object to any change, 
not realizing that change — much of it of the 



nature of simplification — has been almost con- 
tinuous in the history of English spelling. We 
do not print Shakespeare's or Bacon's words as 
they were written; and surely no great catas- 
trophe to English literature or to the literary 
character of the language will have happened 
if our successors find— as they certainly will — 
as great or greater differences between their 
spelling and that of the present day. In familiar 
correspondence many simplified forms are now 
used which shock no one's nerves, and in the 
most emotional poetry forms such as dropt, stept, 
prest (Tennyson) are printed without attracting 
attention. So eminent a body as the National 
Educational Association, of many thousand 
members, has deliberately selected a number of 
simplified spellings to be used in its printed docu- 
ments, and these spellings have been adopted 
by many periodicals and by hundreds of indi- 
viduals. In fact, it is probable that if all 
English words were printed to-morrow in the 
simpler forms which they unquestionably will 
hear a hundred years hence, it would take a 
very little while for us all to become accustomed 
to them. 

With the purpose of expediting this natural 
process of change which has been going on for 
centuries, and, as far as may be possible, of 
guiding it in the direction of simplicity and 
economy, an organization known as The Sim- 
plified Spelling Board (the members of which 
are named below) has been formed, which will 
urge educated people everywhere to aid in the 
gradual simplification of English spelling and 
thus help to make the English language more 
and more easy to acquire and to use. The liber- 
ality of Mr. Andrew Carnegie has supplied this 
Board with funds for its work, and plans for a 
campaign which will extend over a number of 
years have been formed. 

The members of the Simplified Spelling Board 
are the following: 

Brander Matthews, professor in Columbia 
University; chairman. 

E. Benjamin Andrews, chancellor of the 
University of Nebraska. 

O. C. Blackmer, publisher, Oak Park (Chi- 
cago), 111. 



418 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



David J. Brewer, justice of the Supreme 
Court of the United States. 

Nicholas Murray Butler, president of Col- 
umbia University. 

Andrew Carnegie, New York. 

Samuel L. Clemens, New York. 

Melvil Dewey, lately director of the New 
York State Library, Albany, N. Y. 

Isaac K. Funk, editor and publisher of the 
Standard Dictionary. 

Lyman J. Gage, ex-secretary of the treasury, 
New York. 

Richard Watson Gilder, editor of the Cen- 
tury Magazine. 

William T. Harris, commissioner of educa- 
tion, Washington, D. C 

George Hempl, professor in the University 
of Michigan. 

Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Cambridge, 
Mass. 

Henry Holt, publisher, New York. 

William James, professor in Harvard Univer- 
sity. 

David Starr Jordan, president of Leland 
Stanford University. 

Thomas R. Lounsbury, professor in Yale Uni- 
versity. 

Francis A. March, professor in Lafayette 
College. 

William W. Morrow, U. S. Circuit judge, 
San Francisco, Cal. 

Homer H. Seerley, president of the State 
Normal School, Cedar Falls, Iowa. 

Benjamin E. Smith, editor of the Century Dic- 
tionary, New York. 

Charles E. Sprague, president of the Union 
Dime Savings Institution, New York. 

Calvin Thomas, professor in Columbia Uni- 
versity. 

E. O. Vaile, Chicago, 111. 

William Hayes Ward, editor of the Inde- 
pendent, New York. 

Robert S. Woodward, president of the Car- 
negie Institution. 

Charles P. G. Scott, etymological editor of 
the Century Dictionary, New York; secretary. 



LIST OF COMMON WORDS SPELLED 
IN TWO OR MORE WAYS 

The anomalies and perversities of English 
spelling are obvious enough, and call loudly for 
regulation. But the very fact that some spell- 
ings are anomalous and perverse implies that the 
other spellings are more or less regular, and this 



is true. The majority of English words are 
spelled according to ascertainable analogies, and 
are thus fairly regular. This is especially true 
as to literary words of more than one syllable, of 
Latin or Greek origin. Thus, words like eminent, 
■prominent, evident, protestant, memorial, terrestrial, 
practical, astronomical, familiar, peculiar, ability, 
conformity, monopoly, tedious, previous, biology, 
etc., are approximately phonetic as to the short 
vowels which ^ are concerned in these words. 
They would not present many difficulties to the 
learner, if the learner were not confused by a 
host of other words with other analogies. It is 
true also of a great many monosyllables not 
ending in silent e, as bat, bet, bit, but, bad, bed, 
bid, bud, ban, bin, bun, cam, dam, slam, slap, slat, 
clash, clasp, self, help, strong, strength, etc., but 
here again a host of other monosyllables sugges- 
ting other analogies (plaid, saith, bread, been, 
flood, come, etc.) rush in to badger and confuse 
the unhappy learner. 

The rules and analogies which underlie Eng- 
lish spelling can, however, be ascertained and 
stated, and the exceptions can then be clearly 
seen. The next thing is to reduce or abolish 
the exceptions. The process has worked well 
with many words. Why not continue it with 
other words? The matter is really very simple. 
When the rules and analogies are understood, 
any intelligent person can see for himself when 
a particular spelling deviates from them. Thus, 
any one can see that binn, bunn, butt, are out of 
accord with the rule established by the in- 
numerable words like pin, pun, cut, that centre, 
metre, fibre, etc., are out of accord with the rule 
established by canter, number, timber, diameter, 
etc., and that favour, honour, etc., are out of 
accord with the rule established by error, terror, 
minor, major, editor, senator, etc. So likewise 
dript, dropt, snapt, drest, prest, etc., tho now 
actually less common than dripped, dropped, 
snapped, crossed, dressed, are more in accord 
with the prevailing analogy of p or s before a t 
sound, which appears in apt, host, boast, best, 
nest, rust, etc., and in the old spelling, still re- 
tained, of some preterits and participles, as 
crept, lost, swept, etc., as well as dreamt, leapt, 
etc. The common forms dripped, dropped, 
dressed, pressed, etc., are in a great part altera- 
tions of seventeenth and eighteenth century 
spellings with t. The alterations were made to 
establish a visible but fallacious uniformity of 
inflection. Forms like dript, dropt, stept, stopt, 
crost, drest, kist, prest, etc., abound in the original 
editions of Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, Pope, 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



419 



Burns, Scott, Byron, and are very common in 
more recent poets, as Tennyson, Landor, Swin- 
burne, Lowell. They are always seen in those 
modern editions of the older standard writers in 
which the attempt is made to give a correct text. 
The habit of present publishers of permitting 
their proofreaders to "adopt" some imperfect 
standard, like the older dictionaries, as an 
inflexible rule, and to alter the text of the 
standard authors, when a new edition is made, 
to suit his "preference," serves to conceal from 
the reader the real spelling of the author himself. 
Thus, not only Shakespeare and Milton, but 
Pope, Cowper, Byron, Scott, Campbell, Macau- 
lay, are compelled to appear, not in their own 
spelling, but in the spelling of the publisher or 
proofreader who chances to "prefer" Worcester 
or Webster, or some other mechanical guide. 
This tends to suppress the truth, to stereotype 
bad forms as well as good, and to prevent that 
reasonable change toward order and simplicity 
which was allowed to work freely before the 
nineteenth century. 

Happily, however, there are many hundred 
words in which this process of stereotyping 
irregular or anomalous forms has not prevailed, 
and in which a choice still lies open between a 
simple or normal form, and a less simple or 
anomalous form. 

It has been thought wise to print a partial 
list of the words now spelled in two or more 
ways, with a view of informing the public of 
the facts, and of ascertaining how far intelligent 
readers will concur in the effort to establish the 
simpler forms. A full list would contain many 
hundred words, many of them bookish or tech- 
nical or semiforeign. Such lists are to be found 
in the current dictionaries (Webster, Worcester, 
Standard), but they were compiled for a different 
purpose, and not only include spellings long 
obsolete, but omit many spellings (like dropt, 
prest, tho, etc.) always in extensive use. 

The following list contains three hundred 
common words now spelled in two or more ways. 
The list could be made to contain 600 or 900. 
The number depends upon the limits assigned to 
the word 'common,' and upon the purpose in 
view. 

There are in this list about 40 distinguishable 
classes of words. We mention 20. The other 
classes include each only a few words. Some 
words are quite isolated. 

Certain large classes of words spelled in two 
or more ways are for the sake of brevity omitted 
from the present list. Such are the chemical 



words in -ide or -id, and -ine or -in, and the forms 
involving -11- or -1-, or -tt- or -t-, before suffixes, 
as travelled or traveled, traveller or traveler, 
travelling or traveling, etc., rivetted or riveted, 
rivetter or riveter, rivetting or riveting, etc. Of 
course the simpler form is to be preferred. 

The classes included, arranged in the alphabet- 
ic order of the letters or affixes affected, are as 
follows : 

1. Words spelled with ae, se or e. Rule: 
Choose e. Ex.: Anesthetic, esthetic, medieval, 
etc. 

2. Words spelled with -dge-ment or -dg-ment. 
Rule: Omit e. Ex.: Abridgment, acknowledg- 
ment, judgment, lodgment. 

3. Words spelled with -ed or -t, the preceding 
single consonant being doubled before -ed 
(-pped, -ssed) and left single before -t (-pt, -st). 
Rule: Choose -t in all cases. Ex.: Dipt, dript, 
dropt, stept, stopt, etc., blest, prest, distrest, mist, 
etc., blusht, husht, washt, etc. 

Forms like these, being inflections, are com- 
monly omitted in the dictionary lists of words 
spelled in two or more ways, but they are 
genuine historical spellings and can not be 
ignored. Some are very ancient (for example, 
hist is Anglo-Saxon cyste, and mist is Anglo- 
Saxon miste), and all are frequent and normal in 
English literature from Spenser, Shakespeare, 
and Milton to Tennyson and Lowell. We cite 
some authorities, from original or exact editions, 
for the principal forms included in the list. 
Exact references can be supplied. Similar forms 
abound in the authors mentioned and others. 
Milton, for example, has compast, languisht, 
vanquisht, admonisht, astonisht, diminisht, pol- 
isht, worshipt, supt, ceast, linkt, matcht, scorcht, etc. 

addrest: Spenser, Milton, Pope, Fitzgerald. 

blusht: Shakespeare, Burns. 

carest: Burns. 

clapt: Bible (1611), Shakespeare, De Foe, 
Tennyson. 

claspt: Stanyhurst, Goldsmith, Tennyson. 

dipt: Bible (1611), Shelley, Tennyson. 

confest: Milton, Dryden, Gray. 

cropt: Bible (1611), Pope. 

crost: Shakespeare, Bunyan, Dryden, Burns, 
Scott, Lowell. 

crusht: Bible (1611), Milton, Burns. 

curst: Shakespeare, Dryden, Goldsmith. 

deprest: Milton, Gray, Burns. 

dipt: Bible (1611), Milton, Pope, Gray, Tenny- 
son, Lowell. 

distrest: Milton, Goldsmith, Burns, Lowell. 



420 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



drest: Spenser, Dryden, Pope, Goldsmith, Burns, 
Tennyson. 

dript: Hacket. 

droopt : Tennyson . 

dropt: Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, Pope, 
Burns, Mrs. Browning, Tennyson, Swin- 
burne, Lowell. 

exprest: Dryden, Pope, Milton, Goldsmith. 

fixt: Shakespeare, Milton, Cowley, Dryden, 
Thirlwall. 

gript: Milton, Tennyson. 

heapt: Milton, Lowell. 

husht: Shakespeare, Dryden, Wilson. 

imprest: Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, 
Burns, Cary. 

kist: Shakespeare, Milton, Goldsmith, Tennyson. 

lapt: Tennyson, Lewis Morris. 

lasht: Spenser, Shakespeare, Quarles. 

leapt: Addison, Collins, Tennyson, Mrs. Brown- 
ing, Swinburne. 

lookt: Spenser, Milton, Bunyan, De Foe. 

lopt: Shakespeare, Milton, Young. 

mist: Shakespeare, Walton, Bunyan, Lowell. 

mixt: Bible (1611), Shakespeare, Bacon, Milton, 
Addison. 

nipt: Shakespeare, Pope, Shelley. 

opprest: Milton, Dryden, Burns. ( 

past: Shakespeare, Dryden, Goldsmith, Burns, 
Tennyson. 

possest: Milton, Addison, Pope, Gray, Gold- 
smith, Lowell. 

prest: Spenser, Milton, Dryden, Burns, Tenny- 
son, Lowell. 

propt: Dryden, Pope, Burns, Tennyson, Lowell. 

sipt: Tennyson. 

skipt: Shakespeare, Milton. 

slipt: Shakespeare, Tennyson. 

stept: Milton, Bunyan, Dryden, Burns, Scott, 
Tennyson. 

stopt: Shakespeare, Milton, Tennyson. 

stript: Shakespeare, Bunyan, Burns, Tennyson, 
Lowell. 

tapt: Tennyson. 

tipt: Milton, Pope, Somervile. 

tost: Milton, Dryden, Burns, Whittier, Lowell. 

trapt: Tennyson. 

tript : Shakespeare. 

vext: Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, Tennyson, 
Lowell. 

wisht: Shakespeare, Milton. 

wrapt: Milton, Burns, Pope, Cowper, Scott, 
Lowell. 

4. Words spelled with -ence or -ense (Latin 
-ens-a). Rule: Choose -ense. Ex.: Defense, 
offense, pretense. 



5. Words spelled with -ette or -et. Rule: 
Omit -te. Ex.: Coquet, epaulet, etiquet, omelet, 
etc. 

6. Words spelled with gh or f. Rule: 
Choose f . Ex. : Draft. 

7. Words spelled with -gh or without. (1) 
-ough or -ow. Rule: Choose -ow. Ex.: Plow. 
(2) -ough or -o. Rule: Choose -o. Ex.: Altho 
(Bunyan), tho (Bunyan), thoro, -boro (in place 
names). 

8. Words with the verb suffix, of Greek 
origin, spelled -ise or -ize. Rule: Choose -ize. 
Ex.: Catechize, criticize, exorcize, legalize, etc. 

9. Words spelled with -ite or -it. Rule: 
Omit e. Ex.: Deposit, preterit. 

10. Words spelled with -11 or -1 (-ill or -il). 
Rule: Choose -1. Ex.: Distil, fulfil, instil. 

11. Words spelled with -11-ness or -1-ness. 
Rule: Omit one 1. Ex.: Dulness, fulness. 

12. Words spelled with -mme or -m. Rule: 
Omit -me. Ex.: Gram, program. 

13. Words spelled with oe, ce, or e,. Rule: 
Choose e. Ex.: Ecumenical, esophagus. 

14. Words spelled with -our or -or. Rule: 
Choose -or. Ex.: Favor, fervor, flavor, honor, 
labor, rigor, rumor, tenor, tumor, valor, vapor, vigor. 

15. Words spelled with ph or f. Rule: 
Choose f. Ex.: fantasm, fantasy, fantom, sulfate, 
sulfur. 

16. Words spelled with -rr or -r. Rule: 
Omit one r. Ex.: Bur, pur. 

17. Words spelled with -re or -er. Rule: 
Choose -er. Ex.: Center, meter, miter, niter, 
sepulcher, theater. 

18. Words spelled with s or z (in the root). 
Rule: Choose z. Ex.: Apprize, assize, com- 
prize, raze, surprize, teazel. 

19. Words spelled with s- or sc-. Rule: 
Omit c. Ex.: Simitar, sithe. 

20. Words spelled with or without silent 
-ue. Rule: Omit -ue. Ex.: Catalog, decalog, 
demagog, pedagog, prolog. 



THREE HUNDRED WORDS 

Choose the Simpler Spelling, that at the Left 

abridgment abridgement 

accouter accoutre 

accurst • accursed 

acknowledgment acknowledgement 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



421 



addrest 


addressed 




controller 


comptroller 


adz 


adze 




coquet 


coquette 


affixt 


affixed 




criticize 


criticise 


altho 


although 




cropt 


cropped 


anapest 


anapaest, anapaest 


crost 


crossed 


anemia 


anaemia, anaemia 


crusht 


crushed 


anesthesia 


anaesthesia, 


anaesthesia 


cue 


queue 


anesthetic 


anaesthetic, 


anaesthetic 


curst 


cursed 


antipyrin 


antipyrine 




cutlas 


cutlass 


antitoxin 


antitoxine 




cyclopedia 


cyclopaedia, cyclopaedia, 


apothem 


apothegm, apophthegm 


dactyl 


dactyle 


apprize 


apprise 




dasht 


dashed 


arbor 


arbour 




decalog 


decalogue 


archeology 


archaeology, archaeology 


defense 


defence 


ardor 


ardour 




demagog 


demagogue 


armor 


armour 




demeanor 


demeanour 


artizan 


artisan 




deposit 


deposite 


assize 


assise 




deprest 


depressed 


ax 


axe 




develop 


develope 


bans 


banns 




dieresis 


diaeresis, diaeresis 


bark 


barque 




dike 


dyke 


behavior 


behaviour 




dipt 


dipped 


blest 


blessed 




discust 


discussed 


blusht 


blushed 




dispatch 


despatch 


brazen 


brasen 




distil 


distill 


brazier 


brasier 




distrest 


distressed 


bun 


bunn 




dolor 


dolour 


bur 


burr 




domicil 


domicile 


caliber 


calibre 




draft 


draught 


caliper 


calliper 




dram 


drachm 


candor 


candour 




drest 


dressed 


carest 


caressed 




dript 


dripped 


catalog 


catalogue 




droopt 


drooped 


catechize 


catechise 




dropt 


dropped 


center 


centre 




dulness 


dullness 


chapt 


chapped 




ecumenical 


oecumenical, oecumenical 


check 


cheque 




edile 


aedile, aedile 


checker 


chequer 




egis 


aegis, aegis 


chimera 


chimaera, chimaera 


enamor 


enamour 


civilize 


civilise 




encyclopedia 


encyclopaedia, -paedia 


clamor 


clamour 




endeavor 


endeavour 


clangor 


clangour 




envelop 


envelope 


clapt 


clapped 




Eolian 


Aeolian, iEolian 


claspt 


clasped 




eon 


aeon, aeon 


dipt 


clipped 




epaulet 


epaulette 


clue 


clew - 




eponym 


eponyme 


coeval 


coaeval, coaeval 


era 


aera, aera 


color 


colour 




esophagus 


oesophagus, oesophagus 


colter 


coulter 




esthetic 


aesthetic, aesthetic 


commixt 


commixed 




esthetics 


aesthetics, aesthetics 


comprest 


compressed 




estivate 


aestivate, aestivate 


comprize 


comprize 




ether 


aether, aether 


confest 


confessed 




etiology 


aetiology, aetiology 



422 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



exorcize 


exorcise 


mama 


mamma 


exprest 


expressed 


maneuver 


manceuver, manoeuvre 


fagot 


faggot 


materialize 


materialise 


fantasm 


phantasm 


meager 


meagre 


fantasy 


phantasy 


medieval 


mediaeval, mediaeval 


fantom 


phantom 


meter 


metre 


favor 


favour 


mist 


missed 


favorite 


favourite 


miter 


mitre 


fervor 


fervour 


mixt 


mixed 


fiber 


fibre 


mold 


mould 


fixt 


fixed 


molder 


moulder 


flavor 


flavour 


molding 


moulding 


fulfil 


fulfill 


moldy 


mouldy 


fulness 


fullness 


molt 


moult 


gage 


gauge 


mullen 


mullein 


gazel 


gazelle. 


naturalize 


naturalise 


gelatin 


gelatine 


neighbor 


neighbour 


gild 


guild 


niter 


nitre 


gipsy 


. gypsy • 


nipt 


nipped 


gloze 


glose 


ocher 


ochre 


glycerin 


glycerine 


odor 


odour 


good-by 


good-bye 


offense 


offence 


gram 


gramme 


omelet 


omelette 


gript 


gripped 


opprest 


oppressed 


harbor 


harbour 


orthopedic 


orthopaedic, orthopaedic 


harken 


hearken 


paleography 


palaeography, palaeo- 


heapt 


heaped 


paleolithic 


palaeolithic, palaeolithic 


hematin 


haematin, hsematin 


paleontology 


palaeontology, palaeo- 


hiccup 


hiccough 


paleozoic 


palaeozoic, palaeozoic 


hock 


hough 


paraffin 


paraffine 


homeopathy 


homoeopathy, homoeo- 


parlor 


parlour 


homonym 


homonyme 


partizan 


partisan 


honor 


honour 


past 


passed 


humor 


humour 


patronize 


patronise 


husht 


hushed 


pedagog 


pedagogue, paedagogue 


hypotenuse 


hypothenuse 


pedobaptist 


paedobaptist, paedo- 


idolize 


idolise 


phenix 


phoenix, phoenix 


imprest 


impressed 


phenomenon 


phaenomenon, phaenom- 


instil 


instill 


pigmy 


pygmy 


jail 


gaol 


plow 


plough 


judgment 


judgement 


polyp 


polype 


kist 


kissed 


possest 


possessed 


labor 


labour 


practise, v. and n. 


practice 


lacrimal 


lachrymal 


prefixt 


prefixed 


lapt 


lapped 


prenomen 


praenomen, praenomen 


lasht 


lashed 


prest 


pressed 


leapt 


leaped 


pretense 


pretence 


legalize 


legalise 


preterit 


preterite, praeterite 


license 


licence 


pretermit 


praetermit, praetermit 


licorice 


liquorice 


primeval 


primaeval, primaeval 


liter 


litre 


profest 


professed 


lodgment 


lodgement 


program 


programme 


lookt 


looked 


prolog 


prologue 


lopt 


lopped 


propt 


propped 


luster 


lustre 


pur 


purr 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



423 



quartet 

questor 

quintet 

rancor 

rapt 

raze 

recognize 

reconnoiter 

rigor 

rime 

ript 

rumor 

saber 

saltpeter 

savior 

savor 

scepter 

septet 

sepulcher 

sextet 

silvan 

simitar 

sipt 

sithe 

skilful 

skipt 

slipt 

smolder 

snapt 

somber 

specter 

splendor 

stedfast 

stept 

stopt 

strest 

strip t 

subpena 

succor 

suffixt 

sulfate 

sulfur 

sumac 

supprest 

surprize 

synonym 

tabor 

tapt 

teazel 

tenor 

theater 

tho 

thoro 

thorofare 



quartette 

quaestor, quaestor 

quintette 

rancour 

rapped 

rase 

recognise 

reconnoitre 

rigour 

rhyme 

ripped 

rumour 

sabre 

saltpetre 

saviour 

savour 

sceptre 

septette 

sepulchre 

sextette 

sylvan 

scimitar, cimeter, etc. 

sipped 

scythe 

skillful 

skipped 

slipped 

smoulder 

snapped 

sombre 

spectre 

splendour 

steadfast 

stepped 

stopped 

stressed 

stripped 

subpoena, subpoena 

succour 

suffixed 

sulphate 

sulphur 

sumach 

suppressed 

surprise 

synonyme 

tabour 

tapped 

teasel, teasle, teazle 

tenour 

theatre 

though, tho' 

thorough, thoro' 

thoroughfare 



thoroly 

thru 

thruout 

tipt 

topt 

tost 

transgrest 

trapt 

tript 

tumor 

valor 

vapor 

vext 

vigor 

vizor 

wagon 

washt 

whipt 

whisky 

wilful 

winkt 

wisht 

wo 

woful 

woolen 

wrapt 



thoroughly 

through, thro', thro 

throughout 

tipped 

topped 

tossed 

transgressed 

trapped 

tripped 

tumour 

valour 

vapour 

vexed 

vigour 

visor 

waggon 

washed 

whipped 

whiskey 

willful 

winked 

wished 

woe 

woeful 

woollen 

wrapped 



THE AMELIORATION OF OUR 
SPELLING 



An Address Before the Modern Language Association 



By Calvin Thomas, LL. D., Professor of Germanic 

Languages and Literatures in Columbia 

University 

Let me first of all account for the title of this 
paper by quoting a few words from a recent edi- 
torial of the New York Evening Post: 

"If time-worn phrases prevent a calm scrutiny of 
the facts, and a clear perception of the best fiscal policy 
for this nation .... let us abandon them for 
some fresher and truer form of words. . . . Instead 
of taking free trade for a watchword, if that offends 
any, we may say that we stand for freer trade. Instead 
of talking about protecting American industry, let us 
talk about facilitating it." , 

The indications are that spelling reform is one 
of those time-worn phrases the use of which tends 
to prevent a calm scrutiny of the facts. It seems 
to excite in many minds on both sides of the 
ocean a psychical reaction which is unfavorable 
to sober discussion. It calls up images of a dear 
mother-tongue mutilated and made hideous by 
soulless vandals; of a demand that men and 
women who have once learned to read and spell 



424 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



shall acquire these useful arts over again. We 
hear talk of cranks, humbugs, etc. All of which 
is unfortunate, not because it hurts the feelings 
of reformers — for they can always ease their 
minds by reviling their opponents — but because 
it pulls the discussion into unprofitable channels 
and tends to obscure the really important phase 
of the subject, namely, its educational phase. 

Wishing, now, to charge upon this question 
boldly and yet circumspectly, I have thought 
best not to hang out the banner of "spelling re- 
form," which is to many the red ensign of an- 
archy, but to substitute therefor a sort of pink 
flag of truce. Let us consider the amelioration 
of our spelling. 

And first, a brief historical recapitulation. It 
was about a quarter of a century ago that the 
American Philological Association took up the 
large problem of improving our so-called Eng- 
lish orthography. Having worked at it for ten 
years, in conjunction with the Philological 
Society of London, they adopted, in 1883, a 
joint report which recommended a set of rules 
for amended spelling and embodied a list of 
some 3,500 words amended in accordance with 
the rules. In respect of the scholarly eminence 
of its promoters the movement could not have 
had a more distinguished and authoritative 
sanction. In 1892 our own Association past a 
resolution recommending the rules and the 
word-list. In 1893 an account of the move- 
ment was incorporated in the Introduction to 
the new Standard Dictionary, and the amended 
words were printed as alternative spellings in 
their proper alphabetical position. A very few 
of them, especially such as had previously had 
some currency, have been adopted by certain 
journals. . . . 

More recently the educators have taken the 
matter up. In 1898 the directors of the Na- 
tional Educational Association past a resolution, 
by a vote of eighteen to seventeen, authorizing 
the secretary to adopt in the proceedings of the 
association such amended spellings as Commis- 
sioner Harris, and Superintendents Soldan and 
Balliet might agree upon. These three gentle- 
men selected, to bear the brunt of a preliminary 
skirmish, the twelve words: altho, catalog, deca- 
log, demagog, pedagog, prolog, program, tho, thoro, 
thorofare, thru, ihruout. Since then these twelve 
words, in the amended form, have been used 
regularly in the official proceedings of the Na- 
tional Educational Association and have also 
been adopted by a number of educational jour- 
nals, notably the Educational Review. The ob- 



ject of this little experiment was to put out a 
feeler; to familiarize a part of the public, espe- 
cially teachers, with the idea that usage is an- 
other name for fashion, and that fashions do not 
grow out of the ground nor fall from heaven, but 
are created by some one's initiative. . . . 

So then, there we are; and the prospect is 
bright or gloomy according to the view one takes 
as to the desirableness of improving our spelling 
at all, and the practicability of improving it 
thru some kind of joint public effort For my- 
self I say frankly that if the matter concerned 
only the taste and convenience of adults, I 
should take but a feeble interest in it — an in- 
terest comparable to that I take in the attacks 
that are sometimes made on high hats and 
swallow-tail coats. One who has once learned 
to read and spell, who has acquired the fixed 
visual associations which, for better or worse, 
have become endeared to him, will always find 
it easier to go on as he has been going than to 
change his practice even in small particulars. 
And this is true not only of the hostiles and in- 
differents, but of those who are friendly to the 
idea of an improved spelling. It is easy to see 
why the distinguished scholars and men of letters 
who have enrolled themselves among the detesters 
of our conventional spelling nevertheless con- 
tinue to employ it in their books. It is not 
merely cowardice, the dread of obloquy, of being 
called a crank; there are always men enough 
who are willing to suffer in a good cause, but 
they need to be upborne by the conviction not 
only that the cause is good but also that they 
are accomplishing something worth while by the 
steps taken. Where this conviction is lacking, 
it is not to be wondered at that men, even men 
of good will, shrink from the inconvenience and 
the bother which attend any serious change of 
fixt habits. . . . 

And other considerations of course come in. 
One who writes for the public usually wishes 
before all things to establish cordial relations 
with his reader, that he may please him or con- 
vince him. He does not wish to divert atten- 
tion to a side issue of spelling or to offend his 
reader by thrusting upon his eye bizarre-looking 
word-pictures to which he is not accustomed. 
Authors and publishers, who depend on popular 
favor for their reputation and their income, and 
to whom reputation and income are primary 
considerations, can not be expected to sacrifice 
the greater to the less. 

These are commonplace reflections, and I have 
set them down merely to bring into relief the 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



425 



simple thought that if this spelling question con- 
cerned the adult only, it would hardly be worth 
while to bother our heads about it seriously, or 
to attempt to counteract the overwhelming 
power of that conservatism which, unintelli- 
gently, irrationally, but all the more strongly 
for that very reason, attaches the English-speak- 
ing population to the familiar forms- of our con- 
ventional printed language. We could leave 
the matter to the free play of the tendencies 
inherent in human nature, content to exert our 
individual influence quietly on behalf of common 
sense and sound reason, but with no particular 
anxiety for the future and with a cheerful con- 
fidence that our printed language, no less than 
the spoken, will always express the character of 
the stock that uses it and be as good as that is. 
There would be no need to worry. 

As it is, there is need to worry. For there is 
the question of teaching children to spell — a, 
grave question, an ever-pressing question, which 
will not down when some one has said that his 
religious feeling is offended when he sees the 
word Savior printed without its British u. 
Tastes may differ as to the relative beauty and 
dignity of particular word-pictures, but the edu- 
cational problem is not a matter of taste. It is 
not open to question among intelligent and fair- 
minded persons that a grievous burden is im- 
posed upon childhood by the necessity of master- 
ing, or attempting to master, the intricacies of 
our English spelling. Parents complain, editors, 
school-inspectors, college-examiners complain, 
and the higher teachers complain of the lower. 
Many have come to see that there is something 
somewhere seriously wrong; but only a few of 
the more enlightened have come to understand 
that the fault is not with the schools, and can 
not be corrected either by a return to the tools 
and methods of fifty years ago or by any devices 
of the newest new education; for it is inherent 
in that which Lord Lytton called, aptly enough, 
our accursed spelling. 

Here is a condition which is no joke and will 
not relieve itself in the lapse of time. It cries 
aloud to us to do something if possible; to use 
our best wit and get together if we can, even if 
in the process we must abrade somewhat the 
sharp angles of personal prejudice. 

How heavy is the burden, as a matter of sober 
fact? To this question it is difficult to give a 
strictly scientific answer, because there is no 
perfectly satisfactory way of attacking the prob- 
lem. Literature teems with estimates and com- 
putations of the time and money wasted in one 



way and another because of our peculiar spelling; 
but from the nature of the case they can only be 
roughly approximative. Speaking broadly, it 
appears that children receive more or less sys- 
tematic instruction in spelling thruout the pri- 
mary grades, that is for eight years. If now we 
suppose that they pursue on the average five 
subjects simultaneously, and that spelling re- 
ceives equal attention with the others, we get 
one and three-fifths years as the amount of solid 
school time devoted to this acquirement. This, 
however, does not tell the whole story; for many 
begin the struggle before they enter school, 
many continue to need instruction in the high 
school and even in college, and not a few walk 
thru life with an orthographic lameness which 
causes them to suffer in comfort and reputation. 
Probably two years and a half would be nearer 
the mark as a gross estimate of the average time 
consumed in learning to spell more or less accu- 
rately. 

We have now to ask, How much of this time 
is wasted? How much must we deduct for the 
reasonable requirements of the case? Zealous 
reformers often assume that it is practically all 
wasted. They tell us that if we had a proper 
system of spelling, the acquisition of the art in 
childhood would take care of itself after a little 
elementary instruction. This may be so, but 
we have no means of proving positively that it 
is so. If any people in the world had an ideal 
system of spelling, we might go to them and find 
out how long it takes their children to learn spell- 
ing. But there is no such people; and so we are 
forced back upon such rough and general state- 
ments — perfectly true in themselves — as that 
German and Italian children learn to spell much 
more easily and quickly than do our own chil- 
dren. Meanwhile, it is hardly fair to take as one 
term of comparison an ideal condition which 
never existed and never will exist. An alphabet 
must always be a rough instrument of practical 
convenience. Very certainly our posterity will 
never adopt any thoro-going system of phonetic 
spelling. Nothing is going to be changed per 
saltum. The most we can hope for is a gradual 
improvement, accelerated perhaps by wisely 
directed effort. This means that spelling will 
always have to be learned and taught, and that 
considerable time will have to be devoted to it. 

On the other hand, keeping strictly within the 
limits of the practicable, in view of what other 
peoples no less conservative than ourselves have 
actually done, I think it reasonable to calculate 
that we might save, not in a year or a decade, 



426 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



but in the lapse of two or three generations, say 
a half of the time now consumed in learning to 
spell. Certainly we might save a year; and that 
is much when we consider the indefinite future 
of four score million people. Here is an argu- 
ment in the presence of which the delicate emo- 
tions of the literary exquisite who is pained by 
a change of spelling do not seem to be prodigi- 
ously important. 

And then it must be remembered that the loss 
of time constitutes by no means the whole of the 
indictment. Right at the threshold of school 
life, when the young mind is beginning to ask 
for the reasons of things, and when every prin- 
ciple of sound education requires that this pro- 
pensity be developed and strengthened by appro- 
priate stimuli and discipline, — just then we 
deluge the learner with an avalanche of irration- 
ality. It is strictly true that the foolishness of 
our English spelling exerts a poisonous influence 
on our whole primary education. The mass of 
people, even of the educated, do not know this. 
Having themselves gone thru the misery long 
ago, they look upon the struggle with spelling 
as a necessary evil of childhood — like chicken- 
pox and whooping-cough. We know, — scholars 
know who have an international scope of vision, 
— that it is not altogether necessary, any more 
than are the contagious diseases. . . . 

Notwithstanding appearances to the contrary 
some progress has been made during the last 
quarter of a century, and I at least believe that 
still further and more rapid progress is possible 
hereafter, and possible by a process of evolution 
and natural selection, without any cataclysm 
more violent than that whereby we have got rid 
of the k in music and traffic. When I speak of 
progress I mean first of all that the intellectual 
battle, so far as there ever was any, has been 
completely won. The various arguments which 
used to be advanced by the supporters of the 
conventional spelling — by arguments I mean 
reasons based on knowledge, or the appearance 
of knowledge, and meant to convince the intellect 
of thinking men — have been completely riddled 
to pieces. There is simply nothing left of them. 
The schematic argument from the supposed im- 
portance of distinguishing homonyms, the ety- 
mological argument, the historical argument, 
the literary argument, have all been passed in 
review by distinguished scholars and men of 
letters — men who by no twist of the imagina- 
tion could be accused of indifference toward 
aught that is noble or precious in our inherit- 
ance — and have been shown to have little or 
nothing in them. 



If anyone thinks that I am over-stating the 
case let him use his first leisure in calmly review- 
ing the discussion. Let him read what has been 
written by Max Miiller, Murray, Whitney, Hal- 
deman, March, Lounsbury and, more recently, 
by Brander Matthews. The opposition he will 
have to get mainly from the newspapers. When ' 
he has finished his review, he may still say that 
what is called spelling reform is foolishness or is 
an idle dream that can never be realized; but he 
will not be likely to say that the obstacle in the 
way is sound reason. What attaches us to our 
conventional spelling is not a body of convic- 
tions, but simply habit and feeling. A different 
habit would beget a different feeling. . . . 

What is needed is to prepare the way for a 
generation whose feelings shall be somewhat 
different from ours, — a generation that shall have 
less reverence than we have for what is called 
usage. During the last hundred and fifty years 
we have become a race of dictionary worshipers; 
and we have gone so far in our blind, unreason- 
ing subserviency to an artificial standard that 
the time has come for a reaction. We need to 
reconquer and assert for ourselves something of 
that liberty which Shakspere and Milton enjoyed. 
We need to claim the natural right of every 
living language to grow and change to suit the 
convenience of those who use it. This right be- 
longs to the written language no less than to the 
spoken. We have the same right to make usage 
that Steele and Addison and Dr. Johnson had; 
and there is just as much merit in making usage 
as in following it. The tendency, or Trieb, 
which leads a people continually to refashion its 
inheritance is just as august, just as worthy of 
respect, as the conservative tendency. Indeed 
it is more worthy of respect; for it is the sign of 
a living language, and life is better than death. 

There are signs that the reaction desiderated 
a moment ago is beginning. We seem to be 
entering upon an era of assertive individualism 
in this matter of spelling, and that is precisely 
what is needed. It is to be hoped that in the 
next few years variant spellings may continue 
to spring up in a luxuriant crop and compete 
with one another for acceptance. It is to be 
hoped that good dictionaries may multiply, 
each claiming to be the best and each giving you 
a liberal choice for your money. Let editors and 
publishers show that they have a mind of their 
own and dare use it — not to the extent of at- 
tempting radical and schematic reforms, but to 
the extent of trying experiments and adopting 
the more rational of competing forms. Let 
literary men be brought to see by an infinite 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



427 



series of slight shocks, that spelling was made 
for man, and that a change of spelling is no more 
an attack upon literature than an improved 
musical notation, if we could invent one, would 
be an assault upon music and an insult to the 
memory of Beethoven. In this way we shall 
gradually recover for our children's children the 
lost criterion of common sense. 

Some one will say, perhaps, that this means 
chaos, confusion, the undoing of the work of the 
great and good Samuel Johnson. I reply: Yes, 
a little chaos will do us good. It is just the 
thing we need as a transition-stage toward a 
better regulation hereafter. No great interest 
of society is bound up with the use of a uniform 
spelling. So long as we keep within the limits 
of easy intelligibility it is no more important 
that we spell alike than that we pronounce alike 
or dress alike. We have always allowed our- 
selves some latitude in the spelling of particular 
words, and no damage has been done. Shaks- 
pere had no Unabridged to consult and he spelt 
very much as the spirit moved him; yet litera- 
ture can hardly be said to have languished in his 
hands. . . . 

In matters pertaining to the spoken language 
I hold that the scholar will do his duty best if 
he lean somewhat heavily toward the side of con- 
servatism; for there the influences that make for 
rapid and often undesirable change are in the 
ascendent, and the scholar best knows what is 
noble and precious in our heritage. When we 
come to the written language, however, the case 
is entirely different. There the influences that 
make for conservatism are already strong enough 
and too strong; and the scholar may wisely ex- 
ert his influence for a gradual loosening of the 
tension of our orthographic superstition; for he 
best knows how large a part of our standard is 
and was in the beginning fortuitous, capricious, 
absurd and based on pedantic blundering. 

And now for my promised practical suggestion. 
I think that we need teachers' courses on the 
history of English spelling. I mean courses to 
be given in normal schools, high schools, colleges 
and universities, — wherever primary and sec- 
ondary teachers are preparing for their work. 
If you please, we need a new style of spelling- 
book, one whose object should be to show the 
coming teachers of children just how we got into 
our present muddle. I would take the school- 
master, or more properly the schoolma'am, by 
the hand and lead her up close to the idol that 
we have set up for worship under the name of 
USAGE. I would gently draw aside the wrapp- 



ings and give her a glimpse of the sawdust and 
the cotton and the paint. I would call her at- 
tention to the glass beads that she has mistaken 
for diamonds and rubies. 

The history of English spelling is a legitimate 
and dignified branch of scholarship, and if prop- 
erly presented could be made of fascinating in- 
terest to prospective teachers. The book that 
I have in mind would be somew'hat difficult to 
prepare, but not hopelessly so. It could almost 
be compiled from the extant writings of Prof. 
Lounsbury. It would be very simple and ele- 
mentary. It would not pre-suppose a knowl- 
edge of Anglo-Saxon, but it might make use of 
easy Anglo-Saxon illustrations. It would be 
strictly scientific; no partisanship, no spelling 
reform in it — at least none visible to the naked 
eye. The object of it would be simply to medi- 
ate between the scholar's knowledge and the 
minds of those who are to teach children. But 
you say, perad venture, What good would it do? 
The teacher who had learned all that could be 
learned in that way would still be obliged to teach 
the conventional spelling. Yes, but it would no 
longer be the same thing. She would do her 
work — occasionally at least — with a wild gleam 
of intelligence in her eye. Instead of a blind, 
unreasoning subserviency to a big book of mys- 
terious and awful authority; instead of a dog- 
matic and categorical imperative, Thus shalt 
thou spell and not otherwise, — there would be 
little schoolroom discussions about the reason 
and the propriety of things; and that sort of 
thing, going on in many thousand places, would 
contribute to what I called a moment ago the 
recovery of the lost criterion of common sense. 
And occasionally something like this would hap- 
pen: i The teacher whose pupil had misspelled, 
say the word foreign, instead of reprimanding 
and marking him down, would say to him: 
"Well, Johnny, the fashion is to spell it f-o-r- 
e-i-g-n; but the ig got there by mistake, there is 
no reason why they should be there, and I think 
that if I were beginning life as you are, I should 
unload them." And Johnny would go out into 
life with a hundred orthographic "ideas" in his 
head; and in one way and another he would let 
them out upon the community — to the great 
advantage thereof. 

To speak a little more seriously, my thought 
is this. When any inherited fashion or custom 
has become inconvenient and needs to be 
changed, but cannot be changed directly because 
of a superstitious reverence for tradition as such, 



428 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



the best way to prepare a change is to let in the 
light of knowledge upon its origin. At present, 
so far as spelling is concerned, this light shines 
only for scholars. We need to diffuse it thruout 
the community. 

Calvin Thomas. 



THE SPELLING OF YESTERDAY AND 
THE SPELLING OF TOMORROW 



By Brander Matthews, D. C. L., Professor of Dram- 
atic Literature in Columbia University 

It is greatly to be regretted that no scholar 
has yet written a full "History of English 
Orthography," the record of all our ever-shifting 
spellings. This book would be useful in many 
ways; and it would reveal to the doubting con- 
servatives that they need feel no veneration for 
certain of the most flagrant absurdities of our 
current orthography, as the worst of these are 
often comparatively recent, having no sanction 
of antiquity. There are many who instinctively 
dislike the accepted spelling of rhyme, for ex- 
ample, and of comptroller — two of the most 
obviously ridiculous of our current orthogra- 
phies — but who are too timorous to take the 
liberty of simplifying either of these spellings, 
and who would be greatly gratified to be in- 
formed that these accepted complexities are only 
two or three centuries old and that the words 
were previously spelt as they are pronounced, 
rime and controller. 

The publication of a true history of our orthog- 
raphy would also convince the average reader 
that there is not now any "standard" spelling 
for all the words of the language, and that there 
never has been any standard spelling in the past. 
There is divergence of usage between writers of 
distinction to-day — as there always has been. 
There is disagreement in the recommendations 
made by the foremost dictionaries — as there 
always has been. There is no uniformity now — 
and there never has been any uniformity. And 
what we need to grasp most firmly is the fact, 
not only that there is not now a standard of 
spelling, but also and more emphatically that 
there never has been any authority to set up a 
standard. Spelling is like speech; it is the result 
of a tacit agreement to employ certain symbols; 
and eveiy one of us reserves the right of indi- 
vidual judgment as to the symbols he will em- 
ploy. 

If any man insists upon the misleading spell- 



ing of comptroller, we can assure him that this 
orthography misrepresents the sound of the 
word, that it also suggests a false origin, and that 
there is an absurdity in combining a sturdy old 
English word with Frenchified complexities 
which mean nothing. But the culprit may re- 
tort that he likes to spell the word in just that 
way and that he proposes to do so for ever and 
ever; and what are we going to do about it? To 
this there is no answer except to admit that the 
right of any individual user of the language to 
spell as he sees fit This admission assures to 
the wilful man the privilege of clinging to comp- 
troller, while it also asserts the right of any one 
else to use the more logical, the simpler, and the 
older controller. 

Other wilful men may cling to metre, altho 
they are in the habit of spelling it meter in its 
compounds diameter and thermometer. They 
may prefer to bestow a needless French tail upon 
programme, altho they always spell epigram 
without any such wasteful redundancy. They 
may have a fondness for another French termi- 
nation in cigarette and aigrette, altho omelet and 
epaulet and toilet have long managed to survive 
shorn of this appendix. And these wilful men 
have each of them a right to this opinion and to 
this orthography, if they choose, for who is to say 
them nay? Who has any warrant to interfere? 
And, on the other hand they have no right to ob- 
ject to those of us who prefer the simplest forms, 
and who write not only rime and controller and 
meter, but also tho and altho and catalog. We claim 
the same privilege that we grant to every one 
else. But it is only a privilege to be exercised 
with discretion; it is not a duty to be performed 
in accordance with law. 

There is not a right spelling of any word to be 
enforced upon every one; there is only a spelling 
which is generally accepted, and which may be 
modified from time to time by tacit consent. 
There is not now and there never has been any 
general agreement as to English spelling, or any 
authority having the right to lay down any 
rules for it. There is divided usage now in re- 
gard to hundreds of words, and there has always 
been divided usage. There is no special sanctity 
in either musicke or music, ara or era, toilette or 
toilet, phantasie or fantasy, sovereign or sovran, 
pcedayogue or pedagog, technique or technic, 
plough or plow, though or tho. Every one of us 
has a right to his own opinion ; if he prefers cum- 
bersome complexity, he can have his own way; 
and if he would rather employ the briefer and 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



429 



more direct spelling, he is within his rights as a 
human being. 

If we had a history of English orthography, 
it would show that countless modifications have 
taken place since the invention of printing. It 
would prove also that English, like every other 
language, has been vainly striving to make its 
spelling exactly represent its pronunciation, 
and that it has failed, partly because the pro- 
nunciation of a language is constantly changing, 
and generally changing more rapidly than the 
spelling can be modified to conform to it. A 
change in pronunciation — like that of either, 
which was eether half a century ago, and which 
now is partly eyether — can spread very swiftly 
by imitation; but a change in spelling to corre- 
spond exactly With the new pronunciation, 
meets with far more resistance, since the eye 
seems to be more conservative than the ear. 
When the eye has long been accustomed to cer- 
tain symbols as conveying a certain meaning, 
it is annoyed that these customary symbols 
should be disturbed, even when they are no 
longer accurately representative of the sound. 
This is why strictly "phonetic" spelling is really 
impracticable, even if it is wholly desirable; to 
accomplish it there would have to be uniformity 
of pronunciation, or at least an absolute standard 
of pronunciation, which does not exist now, and 
which never has existed. And even a close ap- 
proach to phonetic exactness of orthography 
would call for so many alterations of the symbols 
to which our eyes are accustomed, that we may 
dismiss it as impracticable. 

The English-speaking race is essentially con- 
servative, and it declines to be driven too fast. 
It will not give up the symbols to which it is ac- 
customed. Any scientific phonetic reform of our 
common spelling is absolutely impossible; it lies 
outside the sphere of practical politics. But 
altho phonetic reform is impossible, improve-- 
ment of some sort is possible, if too much is not 
demanded too suddenly. As Sainte-Beuve 
once suggested: "Orthography is like society; 
it will never be entirely reformed; but we can 
at least make it less vicious." 

And how truly vicious our present spelling is, 
any one can see for himself. It is unworthy of 
a practical people. It misrepresents the deriva- 
tion of the words; it is wholly unscientific; it is 
as wasteful as it is absurd; and it is inferior to 
the spelling of French and of German, and far 
inferior to the spelling of Italian and Spanish. 
No better example could be found of the incon- 
sistency of human nature than the fact that the 



most businesslike of races has been so long con- 
tent with the most unbusinesslike of orthogra- 
phies. 

An accomplished historian of our noble lan- 
guage has asserted that English is now "the most 
barbarously spelt of any cultivated tongue in 
Christendom. We are weltering in an orthogra- 
phic chaos in which a multitude of signs are 
represented by the same sound, and a multitude 
of sounds by the same sign." And he then 
illustrates this confusion by drawing attention 
to the fact that one and the same sound is now 
represented by e in let, by ea in head, by ei in 
heifer, by eo in leopard, by ay in says, by ai in 
said, and by a in many. Here we have seven 
different symbols for a single vowel sound; and 
the most of these same symbols in other words 
represent other vowel sounds. Nor are the con- 
sonants very much more exact, as we see when 
we are reminded that one and the same sound 
is now represented by s in sure, by sh in ship, by 
sci in conscience, by ci in suspicion, by ce in ocean, 
by ti in notion, and by xi in anxious — again 
seven different symbols for a single sound. 

Here is chaos come again — a chaos so wide- 
spread and of such long standing as to make it 
hopeless for any one to attempt a radical reform 
and to urge a rigorous representation of a single 
sound by a single symbol always the same. Our 
race clings to ancient landmarks; it has a mis- 
placed affection for all these multiplied and mis- 
leading symbols. The earlier movements for 
spelling reform failed to accomplish much, be- 
cause their leaders did not sufficiently take into 
account this indurated conservatism, which is 
unwilling to. change even when the reasons for 
the change are overwhelming. Any future 
movement for simpler spelling can hope for suc- 
cess only in proportion as it reckons with preju- 
dice, and as it makes its approach along the 
lines of least resistance. If we cannot be brow- 
beaten by logic into accepting a single symbol 
for a single sound, perhaps we can be persuaded 
to strive for an easier simplification by leaving 
out those superfluous letters of all sorts, which 
merely dilute our ordinary orthography, and 
which often have no right to be there. # ' 

The spelling of English is now more foolish 
than that of German or French (both of which 
have been somewhat amended of late), partly 
because English has, unfortunately, suffered 
more than any of the other modern languages 
from the evil influence of uneducated printers 
and of half-educated pedants. The printers 
were the first in the field, and their misdeeds are 



430 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



at once easier to understand and harder to 
counteract. The earliest printers in England 
were not Englishmen; mostly they were Germans 
or Dutchmen, to whom English was a foreign 
speech. 

Now it is possible for compositors to set type 
in a language of which they are wholly ignorant, 
but they probably would be less careful and 
make more blunders in setting up books in a 
language which they half knew. "As foreigners 
they had little or no knowledge of the proper 
spelling of our tongue," so Professor Lounsbury 
has recorded, adding that, "in the general license 
that then prevailed, they could venture to dis- 
regard where they did not care to understand." 
The result is that the spelling of the original 
editions of the masterpieces of Elizabethan 
literature is a marvel of typographic incompe- 
tency and of orthographic recklessness. Spelling 
was then less accurate, it was more clumsy and 
more slovenly, than it had been when the multi- 
plying of books was left in the hands of the bet- 
ter-trained copyists. 

So numerous were the variations in the spell- 
ing even of ordinary words that a reaction was 
bound to follow. Toward the end of the seven- 
teenth century and in the earlier years of the 
eighteenth, an effort was made to bring order out 
of chaos. Unfortunately, this attempt toward 
uniformity was not guided by wisdom or by 
knowledge, but rather by chance and by caprice, 
since it was the work of the printers themselves, 
who knew nothing about the principles which 
should control the adjusting of spelling to pro- 
nunciation. A certain kind of uniformity was 
achieved in time by the acceptance of the stand- 
ards set by the printers. This uniformity, from 
which our children are now suffering, was ex- 
ternal, arbitrary, mechanical and unscientific. 
In effecting it, so Professor Lounsbury has de- 
clared with characteristic plainness of speech, 
"propriety was disregarded, etymology perverted 
and every principle of orthography defied." 

It was a grave misfortune that the mismade 
spelling thus casually manufactured was ac- 
cepted by Bailey, and after him by Dr. Johnson, 
whose "Dictionary," published in the middle of 
the eighteenth century, gave it currency and 
authority, which his more ignorant disciple 
Walker only helped to extend and establish. 
And if the English language has to-day the worst 
spelling of any of the modern languages, this is 
due largely to the influence of Dr. Johnson, and 
to the weight of his ponderous personality. If 
he had only known just a little more about the 



history of his own language, and if he had ex" 
erted his dominating influence against the more 
obvious absurdities and inconsistencies foisted 
into our spelling by the narrow pedantry of 
arrogant proofreaders, secure in a perilous half- 
knowledge — in short, if Dr. Johnson had not 
only known more about English, but had also 
cared more — our orthography would be less un- 
satisfactory to-day and it could be more easily 
set right. 

In his regard for Latin, and in his ignorance of 
English as it had been before the printers came, 
Johnson accepted comptroller, ignoring the older 
controller. He allowed sovereign and foreign 
(as tho they had something to do with the Latin 
regno) instead of the older soverain (Milton's 
sovran) and forrain. He countenanced debt and 
doubt, with the useless and disfiguring b, which 
was thrust in by earlier pedants. He kept a 
Latin p in receipt, tho he left it out of deceit. He 
spelt deign one way and disdain another. He 
was willing to leave a needless and misleading 
s in island, altho it had been Hand in Shake- 
speare's time. He seems to have supposed that 
older English agast would look more ghostlike 
if spelt aghast. He saw no harm in delight, 
altho the older form, representing more accu- 
rately both the sound and the origin, was delite. 
He cast out the Shakespearean ake for a labored 
ache. He kept up the accidental and perfectly 
useless distinction in the spelling of the final 
syllables of accede and exceed, of precede and pro- 
ceed. 

The more clearly we see the full effect of John- 
son's accidental influence in fixing upon our 
orthography all these infelicities and many 
others like them, the more we are moved to re- 
gret that the burly doctor undertook to prepare 
the dictionary of a language which he had not 
investigated historically, and in which he held 
it disgraceful to compose an epitaph. The argu- 
ments which Dr. Johnson advanced in his pam- 
phlet on "Taxation no Tyranny" did not convert 
our forefathers then fighting for their freedom; 
and perhaps the time has now come when their 
descendants can decide for themselves whether 
they will accept or reject the cumbersome spell- 
ings preserved in the dictionary made by the 
man George III. pensioned. 

If only we had in our hands a satisfactory his- 
tory of English orthography, we should find an 
easy answer to one protest frequently made 
against any proposed simplification of our spell- 
ing. This is to the effect that it is our duty to 
preserve for our children the orthography which 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



431 



was used by Addison and by Swift, by Milton 
and by Shakespeare, since the spelling that was 
good enough for these great masters of English 
literature ought surely to be good enough for us. 
But this protest is never voiced by any one who 
is familiar with the original editions of Milton 
and of Shakespeare; it is possible to those who 
are familiar only with the ordinary library edi- 
tions set up in "modern spelling" — that is to say, 
in the spelling arbitrarily agreed on in the print- 
ing offices of the eighteenth century, and ignor- 
antly accepted by Dr. Johnson. This "modern 
spelling" misrepresents the text of the masters 
of English literature. Altho it was accepted in 
most of the editions issued in the nineteenth 
century, it is now rejected by the severer scholar- 
ship of our own time, which insists on reproduc- 
ing the original orthography. 

The multiplication of these more scholarly 
editions of the English classics will soon convince 
even the careless reader that English spelling 
has always been shifting, and that it was often 
simpler in the past than it is to-day. It will 
convince him that the so-called "modern spell- 
ing" has no. sanctity from use by the masters. 
It is not the spelling of Addison and Swift, of 
Milton and of Shakespeare; it is only the spelling 
of Samuel Johnson, author of the "Vanity of 
Human Wishes." It is the spelling of yesterday, 
but it is not the spelling of the day before yester- 
day; and it will not be the spelling of to-morrow. 
Many of the more cumbersome forms of the 
Johnsonian canon — governour, for example, and 
waggon and gaol — have long been abandoned 
here in the United States. Many more are 
likely to be given up in the immediate future. 
Already is rime making its way back into use; 
and probably sovran would seem strange now 
to no student of Milton. No lover of Tennyson 
finds anything unusual in stept and stopt, which 
Laureate liked better than stepped and stopped, 
perhaps as more frankly monosyllabic and there- 
fore more harmoniously fitted into his verse, and 
perhaps because he followed the practise of the 
older poets of our tongue. 

It was the shrewd Bismarck who declared 
that "we cannot hasten the course of time by 
setting our watches forward." But the course 
of time is even steadier in its advance than the 
most trustworthy of our watches. Even in the 
nineteenth century there was some progress 
toward simplicity in our spelling; and now, at 
the beginning of the twentieth century, the time 
seems ripe for another step or two. The Simpli- 
fied Spelling Board is profoundly convinced that 



the peoples who speak English are very con- 
servative and very slow to move along the path 
of reformation; and therefore it is going to re- 
frain from all radical suggestions. Its members 
agree with M. Brunetiere that "we can do what 
we desire only on condition that we do not de- 
sire what is not in our power." 

It is prepared to make haste slowly, and not 
to expect too much in a hurry. It is planning 
a campaign in which ultimate victory is only 
dimly foreseen. It proposes first of all to call 
public attention to the whole question, and to 
keep on calling attention to it, urging every man 
to inquire into it for himself, and to decide on 
his own course. It hopes to be able to encour- 
age independence, and to overcome lethargy, 
and in time to make a breach in the walls of 
bigoted conservatism. It has issued a list of 
words now spelt in two ways, and it will urge 
the public and the publishers and the printers 
to accept finally the simpler of the two. It will 
lend the weight of its authority to the various 
minor simplifications now struggling to estab- 
lish themselves — tho and altho, for example, 
catalog and program, esthetic and maneuver. 
Attempting at first only the easiest things, and 
those nearest at hand, working along the line of 
least resistance, and arousing as little opposition 
as possible, it will propose still further simplifica- 
tions by the casting out of letters which are 
plainly superfluous. Slowly and steadily, with- 
out haste and without rest, it will try to win 
acceptance for many little simplifications, incon- 
spicuous and unimportant individually, but 
collectively putting our spelling in a more satis- 
factory position to take a longer step in advance 
whenever the public has been prepared to con- 
sider this favorably. 

One result of its efforts is likely to be the 
restoration of many an old spelling discarded 
foolishly in the eighteenth century. And an- 
other will be to accelerate more or less the con- 
stant tendency toward simplicity (by the casting 
out of useless letters) which has been steadily 
at work in English from the very beginning, and 
which is opposed only by those who are obstinate 
in declaring that there shall be no change of any 
kind hereafter. The Board believes that this 
attitude of opposition to all change is not only 
unreasonable in itself, but also that it is contrary 
to the tradition of the language. It feels assured 
that its fellow-citizens, however wedded to the 
existing forms, can be made to see clearly the 
many disadvantages of the present spelling of 
our language, with the resulting wastefulness of 



432 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



time and money, with its inconvenience for 
foreigners, and with its cruelty to our own chil- 
dren. The few and simple changes that it is 
urging may seem strange at first to many, just 
as jail and almanac and wagon seemed strange 
at first to our fathers, accustomed to gaol and 
almanack and waggon. But as our fathers ac- 
cepted these after a while, so our children will 
accept other similar simplifications. We must 
seize every chance that offers to keep our spell- 
ing as near our pronunciation as may be possible, 
or else the future of English orthography will be 
worse even than its present. 

In his admirable "History of French Classical 
Literature," M. Brunetiere, that most conserva- 
tive of scholars, has this striking passage: 
"Neither orthography nor pronunciation — which 
in all the languages of the world, ancient and 
modern, has never been more than an approxi- 
mation — depends immediately on the caprice or 
on the will of men. They evolve with us, under 
human influences generally, altho no doubt there 
are physical influences also; but even when we 
can disengage these influences, we can never have 
more than a retrospective knowledge of them, 
since they have about exhausted their action 
when we succeed in defining it. And this is why 
the orthography and the pronunciation of a lan- 
guage change, more or less, from century to 
century; this is also the reason why they can 
never be 'reformed.' " The one comment which 
needs to be appended to this is obvious. Or- 
thography cannot be "reformed" out of hand; 
but it can be bettered. And it is equally obvious 
that it can be bettered only by sustained and 
intelligent effort. 

Beander Matthews. 



LIST OF COMMON WORDS SPELLED 
IN TWO OR MORE WAYS 



The Three Hundred Words, with the Authorities 

The "List of common words spelled in two or 
more ways," has proved to be an effective 
argument in the hands of the advocates of sim- 
plified spelling. It contains a selection of three 
hundred common words in which the process of 
stereotyping irregular or anomalous forms has 
not prevailed, and in which, therefore, a choice 
still lies open between a simple or normal form, 
and a less simple or anomalous form. Such 
lists are to be found in the current dictionaries, 
but they were compiled for a different purpose 



and not only include spellings long obsolete, 
but omit many spellings, like dipt, dro-pt, stept, 
stript, crost, tost, drest, prest, vext, tho, etc., which 
are in extensive use. For practical purposes a 
more critical list, adapted to schoolroom use, is 
required, and it appears in the circular men- 
tioned. 

The list is now printed in a briefer compass 
(only the simpler form being given), for the use 
of teachers, lecturers, writers, and others who 
may undertake to promote the acceptance and 
use of the simpler forms in schools, newspapers 
and elsewhere. 

In the former list authorities are given only 
for some of the inflected forms, like blest, 
dript, dropt, slept, stopt, etc:, which the diction- 
aries to a great extent neglect or ignore. In 
the list as now printed authorities are given 
for all the simple forms recommended. The 
simple form mentioned is followed by the in- 
itial letters of the dictionaries or societies 
which prefer or recommend it, or allow it as 
a secondary or alternative form (here marked 
with a superior figure 2 ); or else it is fol- 
lowed by the names of standard authors in 
whose works it is found. The forms have been 
taken directly from original editions, or from 
facsimile or critical reprints, and exact refer- 
ences can be furnished in every case. 

The dictionaries named are those now most 
current in the United States, Webster (1864, 
1890, 1900), the Century (1889-1891), and the 
Standard (1894). The Oxford English Dictionary 
(1884-190 — ) is not included in the comparison, 
because it is not yet completed; but the parts 
published give nearly all the simplified spellings 
mentioned in this list, under the words concerned, 
and many thousands more. That dictionary is 
in fact a perfect arsenal of arguments and proofs 
for simplified spelling, and sweeps away the last 
refuge of those who have been fondly opposing, 
in the supposed name of literature and scholar- 
ship, the further improvement of English spell- 
ing. 

It is to be observed that while English dic- 
tionaries have from the beginning shown a pro- 
gressive simplification of spellings, the progress 
since Webster's first quarto edition (1828) has 
been almost systematic, each dictionary going 
ahead of its predecessor in the extent of simplifi- 
cation. And now the public is going ahead of 
the dictionaries. Thousands of prominent men 
and women, with the advice and approval of the 
leading philologists and odiieators of the country, 
have promised in writing to adopt, and they are 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



433 



now personally using, the simplifications recom- 
mended by the Simplified Spelling Board. They 
form a body of enlightened and determined 
public opinion that can not be disregarded. 
And their number increases every day. 

Is it not time, then, for all those who have to 
do with the teaching of spelling, or the presenta- 
tion of the English language in any phase, to do 
now, spontaneously and with the due exercise 
of their influence, what they must do, willingly 
or not, at a later time hot remote? The con- 
tinuous simplification of English spelling is in- 
evitable. 

W = Webster's Dictionary (1864, 1890, 1900). 

C = Century Dictionary (1889-1891). 

S = Standard Dictionary (1894), with supplement. 

P = Philological Societies, that is, the American 
Philological Association and the (British; Philological 
Society. a 

NEA = The National Educational Association (the 
Twelve Words, 1898). 

Nearly all the three hundred simplified spellings 
here mentioned, and three thousand more, are recom- 
mended by the Philological Societies. The tact is 
here noted only in a few special cases. It is to .be 
understood that for all the simple forms here supported 
by dictionary authority only, as approved or allowed, 
the usage of innumerable authors can be cited. Most 
of those recommended by the Philological Societies are 
also old established forms, with abundant literary and 
technical authority. See the paragraphs following the 
List. 

The superior figure indicates that the dictionary in 
question allows the form so marked as an alternative 
or secondary spelling. 



abridgment 
accouter 
accurst 
acknowledgment 



WCS 

WC'S 
W 2 C 2 S 
WCS 



addrest Spenser, Jonson, Milton, Pope, Fitz- 
gerald, ' C 2 S 2 
adz WCS 
affixt P 
altho Bunyan, P NEA 
anapest WCS 
anemia C S 
anesthesia W 2 C 2 S 
anesthetic W 2 C 2 S 
antipyrin C S 
antitoxin C S 
apothem (better than apothegm) 
apprize Goldsmith, Miss Edgeworth, C 2 
arbor WCS 
archeology Skeat,W 2 C 2 S 
ardor WCS 
armor WCS 
artizan Addison, C 2 P 
assize WCS 
ax WCS 
bans (not banns) Gay 
bark (not barque) WCS 
behavior WCS 
blest W 2 C 2 S 2 



blusht Shakespeare, Burns 

brazen WCS 

brazier WCS 

bun WCS 

bur WCS 

caliber WCS 

caliper WCS 

candor WCS 

carest (not caressed) Burns 
catalog Minsheu (1599), S P NEA 

catechize W 2 C S 

center WCS 

chapt P 

check WCS 

checker WCS 

chimera WCS 

civilize ' WCS 

clamor WCS 

clangor WCS 

clapt Bible (1611), Shakespeare, Dekker, 

Fuller, De Foe, Lamb, Tennyson, C 2 S 2 
claspt Stanyhurst, Goldsmith, Tennyson, C 2 S 2 
dipt Bible (1611), Shelley, Tennyson, Lowell, 

C 2 S 2 
clue WCS 

coeval WCS 

color WCS 

colter WCS 

commixt S 2 

comprest Tennyson 

comprize Holland, Florio, Henry More 

confest Raleigh, Milton, Dryden, Addison, 

Pope, Gray, Goldsmith, Trumbull, C 2 S 2 
controller WCS 

coquet WCS (v.) 

criticize W 2 C S 

cropt Bible (1611), Pope, C 2 

crost Shakespeare, Bunyan, Dryden, Burns, 

Scott, Tennyson, Lowell 
crusht Spenser, Bible (1611), Milton, Fuller, 

Burns 
cue WCS 

curst Shakespeare, Bunyan, Dryden, Gold- 
smith, Pope, Burns, W 2 C 2 S 2 
cutlas C S 

cyclopedia WCS 

dactyl WCS 

dasht Lodge 

decalog P NEA 

defense WCS 

demagog P NEA 

demeanor WCS 

deposit WCS 

deprest Milton, Gray, Burns 
develop WCS 



434 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



dieresis . W 8 C S 

dike W C S 

dipt Bible (1611), Milton, Fuller, Dryden, 

Pope, Gray, Shenstone, Boswell, Scott, 
Tennyson, Lowell, ,S 8 
discust P 

dispatch W C 2 S 

distil W C S 

distrest Raleigh, Milton, Thomson, 

Goldsmith, Burns, Lowell 
dolor W C S 

domicil W C S 

draft W C S 

dram W C S 

drest Spenser, Shakespeare, Bunyan, Dry- 

den, Pope, Thomson, Shenstone, Goldsmith, 
Burns, Boswell, Lamb, Tennyson, W 2 C 2 S 2 
dript ' Hacket 

droopt Tennyson 

dropt Shakespeare, Jonson, Milton, Dryden, 
Pope, Shenstone, Coleridge, Jane Austen, 
Landor, Mrs. Browning, Tennyson, Swin- 
burne, Lowell, Lytton, W 2 S 2 
dulness Pope, Thomson, W 2 C S 

ecumenical W C S 

edile W 2 C S 

egis W 2 C 2 S 

enamor W C S 

encyclopedia WCS 

endeavor WCS 

envelop WCS 

Eolian W 2 C 2 S 

eon WCS 

epaulet WCS 

eponym WCS 

era WCS 

esophagus WCS 

esthetic W 2 CS 

esthetics W 2 C S 

estivate W 2 C S 

ether ■ WCS 

etiology W 2 CS 

exorcize C 2 S 

exprest Spenser, Selden, Milton, Dryden, 

Pope, Goldsmith 
fagot WCS 

f antasm W 2 C 2 

fantasy WCS 

f antom W 2 C 2 S 

favor WCS 

favorite WCS 

fervor WCS 

fiber WCS 

fixt Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Cowley, 
Bunyan, Dryden, Thomson, Thirlwall 



flavor WCS 

fulfil W 2 C S 

fulness W 2 C S 

gage W 2 C S 

gazel W 2 C S 

gelatin WCS 

gild (not guild) C S 

gipsy W 2 C S 

gloze WCS 

glycerin WCS 

good-by WCS 

gram WCS 

gript Milton, Tennyson 

harbor WCS 

harken W 2 C S 

heapt Shakespeare, Jonson, Milton, Lowell 

hiccup WCS 

CS 
hock (not hough) WCS 

homeopathy WCS 

homonym WCS 

honor WCS 

humor WCS 

husht Shakespeare, Dryden, Wilson, Lytton 
hypotenuse WCS 

idolize WCS 

imprest Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, 

Burns, Cary 
instil WCS 

jail WCS 

judgment WCS 

kist Spenser, Shakespeare, Jonson, Selden, 

Milton, Goldsmith, Lamb, Tennyson 
labor WCS 

lacrimal S 

lapt Hooker, Tennyson, Lowell, Lewis 

Morris 
lasht Spenser, Shakespeare, Middleton, 

Quarles 
leapt Shakespeare, Jonson, Addison, Collins, 

Wordsworth, Tennyson, Mrs. Browning, 

Swinburne, Lowell, W 2 C 2 S 2 
legalize WCS 

license WCS 

licorice WCS 

liter W CS 

lodgment WCS 

lookt Spenser, Shakespeare, Jonson, Milton, 

Bunyan, De Foe. 
lopt Shakespeare, Jonson Milton, Young 
luster WCS 

W 2 CS 
WCS 



mama 

maneuver 

materialize 



WCS 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



435 



meager W C S 

medieval W C S 

meter W C S 

mist (not missed) Shakespeare, Lodge, Jonson, 

Walton, Bunyan, Lowell 
miter WCS 

mixt Bible (1611), Shakespeare, Bacon, Jonson 

Milton, Bunyan, Addison, Pope, Shenstone, 

Lowth, S '' 
mold WCS 

molder WCS 

molding WCS 

moldy WCS 

molt WCS 

mullen W 2 C 2 

naturalize WCS 

neighbor WCS 

niter WCS 

nipt Spenser, Shakespeare, Pope, Shelley 
ocher WCS 

odor WCS 

offense WCS 

omelet WCS 

opprest Spenser, Raleigh, Jonson, Milton, 

Dryden, Pope, Thomson, Goldsmith, Burns, 

Byron, Tennyson 
orthopedic WCS 

paleography WCS 

paleolithic WCS 

paleontology WCS 

paleozoic WCS 

paraffin WCS 

parlor WCS 

partizan W 2 C S 

past (not passed) Shakespeare, Dryden, Pope, 

Lowth, Goldsmith, Burns, Tennyson, Fitz- 
gerald, W 2 C 2 S 2 
patronize WCS 

pedagog P NEA 

pedobaptist WCS 

phenix WCS 

phenomenon WCS 

pigmy W 2 C S 

plow WCS 

polyp WCS 

possest Spenser, Shakespeare, Jonson, Hooker, 

Raleigh, Milton, Fuller, Bunyan, Addison, 

Pope, Gray, Goldsmith, Lowell 
practise, v. and n. W 2 C(v.)S 

prefixt Mason (1800), P 
prenomen W 2 C S 

prest Spenser, Raleigh, Milton, Dryden, Pope, 

Shenstone, Goldsmith, Burns, Bulwer, 

Swinburne, Tennyson, Lowell, Fitzgerald, 

C 2 



pretense WCS 

preterit WCS 

pretermit WCS 

primeval W C S 

profest Spenser, Shakespeare, Jonson, Raleigh, 

Selden, Pope, Lamb 
program Scott, Sweet, C S 

prolog Furnivall, P NEA 

propt Dryden, Pope, Burns 5 , Frere, Tennyson, 

Lowell 
pur W C 2 S 

quartet WCS 

questor WCS 

quintet WCS 

rancor , WCS. 

rapt (not rapped) P 

raze WCS 

recognize WCS 

reconnoiter WCS 

rigor WCS 

rime W 2 C S 

ript Cowper 

rumor WCS 

saber WCS 

saltpeter WCS 

savior WCS 

savor WCS 

scepter WCS 

septet WCS 

sepulcher WCS 

sextet WCS 

silvan Scott, W C 2 

simitar W 2 C S 

sipt Lamb, Tennyson 

sithe Milton, Johnson (1755), Walker (1775, 
1791), Sheridan (1780), Worcester 2 W 2 C 2 
S 2 
skilful W 2 C S 

skipt Shakespeare, Milton 
slipt Shakespeare, Hooker, Jonson, Tenny- 

son, S 2 
smolder WCS 

snapt Lowth, Coleridge, S 2 
somber WCS 

specter WCS 

splendor WCS 

stedfast Bible (1611, 1906), Bunyan, Thom- 
son, Shenstone, W 2 C 2 
stept Spenser, Milton, Bunyan, Dryden, De 
Foe, Pope, Goldsmith, Burns, Scott, Jane 
Austen, Tennyson, S 2 . 
stopt Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, 
Thomson, Goldsmith, Scott, Jane Austen, 
Tennyson 



436 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



strest P 

stript Shakespeare, Fuller, Bunyan, Pope, 

Richardson, Shenstone, Goldsmith, Burns, 

Scott, Lamb, Tennyson, Swinburne, Lowell, 

S 2 
subpena W 2 C 2 

succor W C S 

suffixt P 

sulfate P S 

sulfur Gale (1676), P S 
sumac W C S 

supprest Hooker, Jonson, Fuller, Pope, 
surprize Fuller, Evelyn, De Foe, Thomson, 

Shenstone, Goldsmith, Jane Austen 
synonym W C S 

tabor W C S 

tapt Tennyson 

teazel W 2 C S 

tenor W C S 

theater W C S 

tho Evelyn, Bunyan, Mallet, Webster (1806), 

P NEA 

(tho', Evelyn, Dryden, Addison, Pope, 

De Foe, Thomson, Goldsmith, Johnson, 

Lamb, Tennyson, etc.) 
thoro ' NEA 

thorofare NEA 

thoroly NEA 

thru P NEA 

thruout P NEA 

tipt Milton, Pope, Somerville 
topt S 2 

tost Milton, Dryden, Ray, Addison, Thomson, 

Shenstone, Burns, Whittier, Lowell, W 2 C 2 S 2 
transgrest Hooker 

trapt Tennyson, P 

tript Shakespeare, Shenstone, Landor 

tumor W C S 

valor WCS 

vapor WCS 

vext Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, Thomson, 

Tennyson, Longfellow, Lowell 
vigor WCS 

vizor WCS 

wagon WCS 

washt Puttenham, Spenser, Shakespeare, 

Hooker 
whipt Shakespeare, Fuller, Pope, Scott, P 
whisky WCS 

wilful W 2 CS 

winkt P 

wisht Spenser, Shakespeare, Jonson, Milton 
wo W 2 C 2 S 

woful W 2 C 2 S 



woolen WCS 

wrapt Jonson, Milton, Fuller, Dryden, Bunyan, 
Pope, Cowper, Burns, Scott, Lowell, Fiske, 

It will be seen that of the three hundred 
simple forms included in the list, more than one- 
half are preferred by Webster's dictionary, 
more than six-tenths are preferred by the 
Century, and two-thirds are preferred by the 
Standard; while nearly all the rest, except some 
of the inflected forms (which are often ignored), 
are allowed by all three dictionaries as alternat- 
ive spellings, in many cases held equal in author- 
ity or superior in etymological accuracy to the 
form nominally preferred. The result is, in 
short, that nearly the whole list has the sanction 
of all the dictionaries current in the United 
States, either as preferred or alternative spellings. 

And if dictionary authority is not sufficient, 
why not accept the authority of the greatest 
names in English literature? 

It should be borne in mind that the simpler 
forms like blest, dript, dropt, stept, stopt, etc., here 
cited are* only a few out of the large number that 
appear in the authors mentioned. They merely 
serve to establish the rule that once widely 
prevailed in English spelling. Such forms were 
for a long period perfectly normal and perfectly 
familiar not only in verse, but in prose. The 
rule was formerly recognized by grammarians 
and lexicographers. In 1570, when Shakespeare 
was six years old, Peter Levins, in a school 
dictionary which he called Manipulus vocabu- 
lorum ('A handful of words') and which was con- 
cerned mainly with spelling and rime, gives the 
rule: "This termination opt is written for opped, 
in the participles of the preter tense: as stopt 
for stopped, lopt for lopped, propt for propped, 
etc." (1570 Levins, Manipulus vocabulorum 
(reprinted 1867), col. 169.) He makes a similar 
statement as to apt, or apte, for apped, "as capte 
for capped, hapte for happed" (col. 28). 

It was in accordance with this principle of 
simplification that the popular books of that 
generation were printed. 'The Whole Booke of 
Psalmes' of Sternhold and Hopkins, the ballads, 
the broadsides, the letters of the time, all abound 
in these neat and pleasing forms. 'The Mirror 
for Magistrates,' a very popular series of versified 
legends and biographies (1559, 1575, 1587, etc.), 
contains a host of them, the dictionaries of the 
period (Cooper, Huloet, Levins, Baret) employ 
them, the fastidious Puttenham ('Arte of English 
Poesie,' 1589) accepts them, and their appear- 
ance in Spenser (1579, 1590, 1596) and in Shakes- 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



437 



peare, Bacon, and the rest, was no innovation, 
but was the accepted usage of the age. The 
Shakespeare instances appear on every page of 
the original text and of exact reprints. Milton 
(1645, 1667), besides the forms mentioned in the 
list, has compost, abasht, languisht, vanquisht, 
admonisht, astonisht, diminisht, polisht, worshipt, 
supt, ceast, linkt, matcht, scorcht, etc. The 
judicious Hooker (1594, 1617) has matcht, 
preacht, represt, toucht, etc. The learned Selden 
('Titles of Honor,' 1614) has annext, distinguisht , 
hatcht, increast, laught, lockt, publisht, rankt, 
stampt, toucht, etc., beside similarity simplified 
forms in -d, as affirmd, allowd, betterd, entertaind, 
honord, referd, reformd, turnd, etc., in great 
number. Ben Jonson ('Workes,' 1616) has askt, 
clickt, helpt, laught, markt, pickt, rackt, shipt, 
walkt, etc. Spenser (1579, 1590, 1596) has askt, 
laught, launcht, deckt, purchast, and the like, in 
endless profusion. Bacon has blockt, lockt, etc., 
Raleigh ('History of the World,' 1614) has 
checkt, dismist, dispatcht, laught, lockt, sackt, 
stuft, etc., Fuller has fetcht, flockt, knockt, preacht, 
toucht, etc. Bunyan (1678, 1684, 1686) has 
blockt, compast, fetcht, furnisht, hatcht, hood- 
wink't, lapst, lock't, etc. Dryden, Addison, Pope, 
Thomson, Shenstone, Goldsmith, use the like, 
and like forms are frequent in the letters of Scott, 
Lamb and Tennyson, as well as in their poems. 
As for tho and thro, they occur, usually as tho' 
and thro' , with the needless apostrophe (which is 
often volunteered by the printer), in nearly 
every writer since the middle of the seventeenth 
century. Thru alone is a new spelling (Philo- 
logical Societies, 1886, National Educational 
Association, 1898). 

Surely the regular or frequent use of a spelling 
(in itself entirely correct and regular), by stand- 
ard authors like Shakespeare, Spenser, Bacon, 
Hooker, Jonson, Raleigh, Selden, Milton, Fuller, 
Walton, Bunyan, Evelyn, Dryden, Pope, Addi- 
' son, Thomson, Shenstone, Richardson, Gray, 
Goldsmith, Burns, Scott, Byron, Coleridge, 
Lamb, Landor, Tennyson, Swinburne, Whittier, 
Lowell, justifies its acceptance or resumption by 
present writers even if the dictionaries and 
spelling-books neglect or ignore it. 



A STATEMENT ABOUT SiriPUFIED 
SPELLING 



Much of the opposition which every forward 
movement meets is due to a failure to perceive 
exactly what its supporters desire. This is the 



case with the movement for the simplification of 
English spelling. Many of the articles which 
have appeared in the newspapers with reference 
to the movement, and to the Simplified Spelling 
Board, reveal serious misconceptions and in 
some cases a complete lack of information. In 
order to clear away these misunderstandings and 
to supply some necessary information, the Board 
calls attention to the following facts: 

1. The Board does not propose any "radical" 
or "revolutionary" scheme of reform, or any 
sudden and violent change of English spelling. 
Any proposal to upset suddenly and violently 
the accepted spelling of any literary language is 
foredoomed to failure. The Board does not 
intend to advocate any modification of English 
spelling that is not temperate and reasonable. 
It is not in favor of any freakish orthography 
of any kind, like the misfit spelling of "Josh 
Billings" and of the "comic" paragraphers. It 
does not desire to relax the existing rules and 
analogies of English spelling. It desires rather 
to make them. more certain, to extend them and 
enforce them, so as to get rid of needless excep- 
tions, and produce a greater regularity than now 
exists. 

2. The Board's chief aim, in view of the fact 
that the English language bids fair to become 
the world language of the future, is to arouse a 
wider interest in English spelling, and to call 
attention to its present chaotic condition — a 
condition far worse than that existing in any 
other modern language. The Board believes 
that when the people who speak English are fully 
awake to the many disadvantages of their pres- 
ent spelling, they will be glad to help every effort 
to better it, as it has been slowly bettered, hy 
individual effort, in the past. 

3. The Board has not yet proposed any inno- 
vations of its own. It has begun by selecting 
from the several thousand words now spelled in 
two or more ways, three hundred of the most 
common, and it has urged the public to adopt, 
now, the simpler of these two forms, and thereby 
establish the principle of simplification. It 
believes that this is a natural and easy first step 
toward further simplifications, such as have been 
proposed and accepted from time to time, even 
in the nineteenth century and within living 
memory. Macaulay, for example, spelt phe- 
nomenon, Thackeray cypher, and Parkman en- 
gulph, altho every one now spells phenomenon, 
cipher, engulf. So esthetic and program are now 
established, and catalog and altho are certain to 
win acceptance in the immediate future. 



438 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



4. But the Board will in due time make sug- 
gestions of its own. It will propose further 
simplifications of the same sort. It will advo- 
cate the casting out of certain letters which are 
not sounded now, which do not affect the pro- 
nunciation according to existing analogies, and 
which merely cumber the orthography. This 
simplification by omission is nothing new; it is a 
process which has been going on for centuries 
and which has given us today, for example, 
almanac, era, fantasy, public, and wagon instead 
of almanack, aera, phantasie, publick, and waggon; 
and, to go a little farther back, bat, set, dim, sum, 
fish, true, civil, fatal, etc., instead of the Eliza- 
bethan batte, sette, dimme, summe, fysshe, trewe, 
ciuill, fatall, etc. There is nothing radical, 
nothing dangerous, in urging the acceleration of 
this normal process. 

5. The Board does not propose to make or to 
recommend any change in the spelling of proper 
names, especially of surnames. That matter is 
out of its chosen province. Geographic names 
often need regulation, but there are societies and 
boards which take care of this. 

6. The Board does not pretend to be "con- 
sistent" in the spelling of its publications. For 
obvious reasons, the spelling of its publications 
is made to conform to the lists or rules the Board 
may have adopted, up to the date of issue. The 
spelling will therefore become progressively 
simpler, and hence less inconsistent. The re- 
maining "inconsistencies" belong to the old 
spelling, and not to the new. Until all of the 
old spelling is improved, some of it will remain 
unimproved. 

7. The Board can assure all who cherish the 
sentiment of loyalty to their mother-tongue, 
that simplifications of spelling will not obscure 
the meaning or the origin of a single word. In 
this statement all scholars agree, lexicographers 
and etymologists first of- all. The proposed 
simplifications will not make it more difficult for 
any one to read the masterpieces of English 
literature; and they will not render useless the 
books now in print. But they will save the time 
of all who write and the money of all who print; 
and they will make the language easier for our 
own children and for the foreigners who are now 
studying it, in increasing multitudes, all over the 
world. 

8. The Board begs leave to remind those who 
may be fearful in regard to the result of its 
recommendations, that spelling is never stable, 
and that there is no final standard of orthog- 
raphy. Nowhere is there any authority to set 



up such a standard. All that the accepted dic- 
tionaries can do is to record the varying usages. 
Their editors have received no charter to decide 
finally between conflicting forms, much less to 
propose improved forms. The Board, on the 
other hand, seeks to change what is bad, and to 
introduce improvements. It wishes to establish 
and extend good usage, to make it national and 
international. 

9. The Board believes that the arguments 
against simplification are so weak that the ex- 
pression of them will help the cause. It is con- 
fident that the more the matter is considered 
the larger will be the number of converts and the 
swifter the advance. Circumstances well under- 
stood by students of the subject have prevented 
many intelligent persons, even many men of 
letters, critics, journalists, and others connected 
with the public prints, from coming into contact 
with information upon the true nature and his- 
tory of English spelling. 

10. The Board expects and welcomes critic- 
ism. It asks only that the criticisms shall be 
made after, and not before, the critic has read 
the publications of the Board or has otherwise 
acquired the necessary information. The Board 
does not wish to be considered responsible for 
proposals which it has not made, for views which 
it does not hold, or for things with which it has 
no concern. The Board has many things to say 
and to propose, and must not be expected to 
state its whole case in the compass of one para- 
graph or of one pamphlet. 

11. The Board recognizes that the progress 
of the cause of simplification depends upon the 
continuous spreading of information. The work 
requires time and patience. New circulars and 
other documents will be sent out at intervals, 
but the Board must not be expected to furnish 
something new every week. All persons in- 
terested may rest assured that the work will go 
on steadily until the main object is accom- 
plished. 

12. The Board has among its members not 
only scholars and educators, not only men of 
letters and men of affairs, but also specialists in 
linguistic science, including the editors of the 
three chief American dictionaries. Perhaps, 
therefore, it has a right to be credited with some 
knowledge of the English language, of the his- 
tory of English orthography, and of the difficul- 
ties to be overcome in the endeavor to simplify 
it. But the Board makes no claim to "author- 
ity"; and its proposals must stand on their own 
merits, each for itself. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



439 



THE PROPER METHOD OF 
TYPEWRITING 



By H. GRAHAM PATERSON 



The haphazard style of operating the type- 
writer which has been common since the creation 
of that machine is rapidly giving way to an exact 
method of fingering. The speedy one-finger 
operator who was once admired, now excites 
sympathy; those who write without reference 
to the keyboard, and use all the fingers, get the 
praise. 

Typewriting by the "sense of location," com- 
monly known as "touch typewriting," is one of 
the easiest things to understand, and if properly 




Graham Paterson 



presented, the whole scheme can be compre- 
hended at a glance. Its value is in the saving 
of nervous energy, the greater amount of work 
that can be done, the ability to concentrate the 
attention on the matter that is being copied, and 
the less chance of omissions. 



The chart accompanying this article indicates, 
by the lines drawn from the fingers, the keys to 
be operated by each. In addition to the prac- 
tice necessary to memorize the keys, their loca- 
tion, and the fingers to which each key belongs, 
the chart shows all there is to typewriting by the 
sense of location, or touch typewriting. Perhaps 
the most intelligible description of this plan of 
operation, and one that conveys the correct idea 
plainly is "Typewriting by the piano method." 
To acquire the ability to typewrite in this 
manner without the aid of graded lessons, or a 
text book, all one has to do is to make a list of 
words embracing the alphabet, write a word until 
it can be written freely and without hesitation 
on the typewriter, then take another word, and 
so on until the location of each key has been 
memorized and it can be struck instinctively. 
Practice matter on figures, signs, and punctua- 
tion marks can be arranged easily. 

It is well to decide on two keys as guides from 
which to locate the others. The best for this 
purpose are the extreme keys on the middle bank 
of the lower-case letters. On the chart shown, 
these are the "a" and ";." The little or fourth 
fingers rest, on them continuously, except while 
they are engaged with other keys, after which 
they should be immediately returned to the 
original position. 

An important point that should be strictly 
observed is, not to look at the keyboard. Find 
the proper keys by looking at the chart , or better, 
locate them from a knowledge of their position 
with relation to the guide keys. 

Many of those who undertake to learn to type- 
write in this manner fail ultimately to put it into 
effect, either on account of lack of perseverence 
or physical deficiency, but even though they fall 
short of securing the prize, the fact of having 
striven for it saves them from becoming one- 
finger operators. There is always gain in study, 
even though efficiency be not accomplished. 



440 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



Slcmbarb Sing le IKcy&octrS 




gp — ty uibt&i ns : — Q) 



The line or lines leading from each finger indicate the keys to be operated by that finger. 
The right-hand thumb operates space-bar. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



441 



## ## SOME TYPEWRITTEN DISPLAY HEADINGS IN " STYLE MANUAL " ## ## 

jfjj. jfjf. fijf: fft 

Sm/Jl 'II 'll 'll 'II 'II 'II 'll 'II 'II 'II 'II 'II 'll 'II 'll 'II 'II 'll 'II 'II 'II 'll 'II 'll 'II 'll 'MMm 'II 'II 'II 'II 'II 'II 'II 'll 'Ml 'II 'II 1UIII II II II II II II II II II I! II II I! II II II II II II II II 



## 
## 



::: ## 
::: ## 



N T E N T S 



7/////////////////////////////////77777 i 

TABULATION // ///////// 



% nm mi 

If I f I I ft 

## ## === PARAGRAPHS === ## ## 

## WW 

## (::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::) ## 

## (:::: DISPLAY :: HE.ADINGS ::::) ## 



**** 



## 



ABBREVIATIONS 






*■»** 



## £E2I 



/^TT777 



SYLLABIC A.T ION 



:zz^ 



Tzzizzr 

## 888888 888888 

## 88=*88-88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88==88 

## 88=*88 FIGURES 88==88 

## 88e=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88==88 

# 888888 888888 

« /////////// J / -J 

## / / / TELEGRAMS / / / 

## / / / / / / / / / / / / r~r 

ww : ____ 




! I ( IJII ( ( I (((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))) I 
ICC X I ( < H((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))) I 

! ( ( I I ( ( \ COURT TESTIMONY I 

I (( 1__I (< I (((((((((((({((((On))))))))))))))) ! 
l((l((l((i(((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))I 



Hill))! 
)!_!))! 

)!))!)) I 



z 



PERFECTION SACRIFICE!) TO SPEED 



T 



*# 
## 
## 
## 
## 
## 

ww 
## 
ww 
ww 
## 



ww 



## 



'rirfrtrft 



'wfflHHHHHHh 



'm mmm iHHHHHHHHHm 



HUGH GRAHAM PATERSON, ## ww 

#/i 'llll 'll 'Ifll 'II '» 'H 'Ml 'II 'II 'II 'II 'IHUHHHI-wMl 'II 'll 'll 'II 'II 'II 'II 'II 'll 'II 'II 'll 'II '/Hlwwwwwwmmilllllllllllw w 



412 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




■: )(:— A MESSAGE TO STUDENTS —:)( : — 




YOU ARE about to enter a profession that presents the opportunity for 
a brilliant future. Your present study may be merely a means to an end-- 
a stepping-stone; you may be a stenographer for a very short time. Exper- 
ience shows that the earnest, diligent, . and well educated shorthand writer 
receives preference in advancement over almost any other class of employe. 

In your work, you will be in close touch with the heads of the con- 
cern that employs you, and if you have merit, it will be instantly recog- 
nized. You must, therefore, become inspired with the ambition to improve 
yourself in language, and in every other manner that will tend to impress 
your employer with your competency for a more responsible position. It is 
from the ranks of stenographers that the best correspondence dictators 
come. Many business houses, recognizing this fact, do not wish office 
help who do not understand stenography. 

Perfection in all things is an impossibility, but if your constant 
aim be to get within touching distance, you have an absolute" certainty of 
promotion. 

Increase your vocabulary. 

Expand your general knowledge. 

Strive continually for excellence. 

Take pride in the appearance of your machine. 

See that your typewriting is free from blemish. 

Become a thorough master of all this book contains. 

A workman is judged by the condition of his tools — so will you be 
judged, by the condition, of your typewriter. 

Habit to the stenographer is either a grievous misfortune or a great 
virtue. Habits are easily formed; exercise care in avoiding the unfortun- 
ate ones and cultivate the meritorious. 

The typewritist who strikes a letter on top of another, or x*s out 
words to remedy mistakes, in a short time comes to feel that it is quite 
a permissible thing. On the other hand, if he insists on not letting a 
blemish remain on his work, and uses the eraser wherever a fault appears 
or rewrites the page, he will come to look with contempt on any one guilty 
of slovenly habits in typewriting. . 

When undergoing a test for a position, do not commence to make the 
transcript until you have examined the typewriter and put it in fit con- 
dition to do the work cleanly and accurately. If the type be dirty, you 
should clean them. See that the carriage does not stick. If it does, oil 
the machine. 

You should possess the ability to correct grammatical errors and to 
improve the construction of the dictation you receive. You should do this 
in an unassertive manner, lest the conceit of the dictator be hurt. Do 
not mention the alterations you make. 

BECOME EXPERT IK ALL SUBJECTS PERTAINING TO YOUR BUSINESS. 





ENCYCLOPEDIA 



413 





Be Consistent! 



DO = HOT = VARY=THE = STYI,E = 



WHEN a certain contraction is adopted, use 
it throughout the document. 

If you write "Armour Grain Co." and that 
name, or the name of any other company, be used 
later in the same document, contract the word 
Co. 

If it he spelled out in the first instance 
(which is the better form), do so in all follow- 
ing cases. 

Do not contract the word Company when used 
without the rest of the title. 

In writing $700, or $700.00, or Seven Hun- 
dred Dollars, use the form first written in all 
other sums. 

In short, the style adopted in the forepart 
of a document must he continued throughout. The 
center-heads, sub-heads, side-heads, style of 
paragraphing, capitalization, contractions, dis- 
play, etc., must be exactly the same in form and 
style. 





444 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




COMMERCIAL CORRESPONDENCE 




(1) COMPOSITION . 

This book is not intended as a treatise on composition. Points 
touching on that subject are given as a guide, and are merely results 
of observation during extended experience as a dictator of business 
correspondence, and criticism in class, as an instructor, of students' 
compositions. 

The following suggestions are adapted to the construction of 
letters or short articles: 

Get the subject fully in mind. 

look for the unusual, pathetic, or dramatic — the point of greatest 

interest. Expound that; then, work out the details. 
Make the finish strong. 
Make the sentences short, without being abrupt. 

THEN, ASK THE QUESTIONS : 
Is the meaning cXear or obscure? 
Is it ambiguous? 

Are the attractive points conspicuous? 
Are the sentences involved? 
Are they grammatical? 

Are the expressions forceful and polite? 
Are they elegant? 
Are they picturesque? 
Are they dignified? 

Are the principal points smothered in words? 
WHAT IMPRESSION WILL THE READER RECEIVE? 




Avoid repetition of the same word, except for emphasis or dramatic 
effect, as it indicates a limited vocabulary. 

Avoid word- padding. 

Avoid the use of the first person. 

Avoid being pedantic; it is amateurish. The evidence of a first- 
class, educated writer, is the shading of simple words to present 
the exact thought. 

Avoid superfluous expressions. 

Avoid the use of words that fail to enhance the attractiveness of 
the composition. 

Avoid the use of foreign words. 

Avoid cheap slang. 

Avoid the style of others — be original and characteristic. 

Avoid long sentences. 

Avoid commencing a sentence with figures. 

Avoid preliminaries, such as: I thought I would take my pen in 
hand and drop you a few lines . 




ENCYCLOPEDIA 



445 




Always clothe your expressions politely, whether they be friendly 
or otherwise. 

Develop the faculty of selecting the impressive points and make 
them most prominent. 

The ideal conception is that which creates a mental picture, 
excites admiration and the desire of emulation, and promotes thought. 

Do not injure your composition by an apology for its merit, or* 
for the penmanship-. If the work be faulty, it may not be noticed; if 
the faults be glaring, it is enough punishment for the reader to see 
them, without having to read about them. 

When through with your subject, STOP. 

Be brief , simple , direct , forceful , and attractive . 

(2) OBSERVATIONS . 

A person worthy of your correspondence, is entitled to your best 
effort. 

A letter, slovenly written, is not complimentary to the receiver 
and is a reflection on the writer. 

A wordy letter is an annoyance to a busy man. 

An ill-spelled, ungrammatical letter is a confession of igno- 
rance. 

A correspondent who has never seen you, pictures you from your 
communications . 

The best composition conveys the greatest thoughts in the fewest 
words. 

Words written in anger are succeeded by repentance. 

A courteous answer to an angry letter may make a good friend and 
an excellent customer. 

Truthfulness begets trustfulness; the combination means, perma- 
nent business success. 

, The business man who is careful, prompt, and courteous in cor- 
respondence, can generally be depended on to fulfil his obligations 
thoroughly and promptly. 

The ideal business letter is free from finger marks, erasures, 
interlineations, or apparent alterations. It is perfect in form; 
neat and accurate; brief; easily read, and easily understood. 

A prompt reply to a letter means business; a tardy reply, loss 
of business. 

An anonymous letter, if not spiteful, treacherous, or cowardly, 
is foolish. 

(3) PARTS OF A LETTER . 

The form of a letter is divided into six parts: (1) HEADING, 
containing name and business of the writer, address and date; (2) 
HAKE and ADDRESS of the party to whom it is written; {3) SALUTATION, 
or greeting; (4) BODY, comprising the subject as a heading (if any),. 





446 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Commercial Correspondence 




and the matter divided into paragraphs; (5) COMPLIMENTARY CLOSING, 
showing the degree of cordiality; (6) SIGNATURE of the writer with 
official-title, if any. 

(4) POSTSCRIPT . 

The postscript is not included in the above division. The addi- 
tion of after-thoughts, as a rule, should be avoided. It is, however, 
a practice, adopted by many, as a means of emphasizing a point. The 
postscript is introduced by the initials, P.S. (postscript = written 
after), or, N.B. ( nota bene = mark well). 



(5) MARGINS . 



These should be arranged approximately two-thirds on the left 
side and one-third on the right. The latter margin being irregular, 
it appears larger. 

The left-hand margin should never be less than three-quarters of 
an inch, except on very narrow paper. 

(6) LETTERS ON PLAIN PAPER . 

When a letter is written on plain paper, the address of the 
sender may be written as shown in the following letters: 

Centered on the Date Line ( Best Porm ) : 

223 Rialto Building, / 
Chicago, 111., March 4th, 1903. 
P. C. Cunningham, Esq., 

Minneapolis, Minn. 
Dear Sir: 

Enclosed is carbon copy of deposition, re WRIGHT vs. JONES, 
taken before me on the 2nd inst., also bill for fees, $25, which you 
will please remit. 

Yours truly, 

Inclined to the Left ; 

153 La Salle Street, 

Chicago, 111., May 5th, 1903.. 
Messrs. J. B. Nelson & Cc. 

Mobile, Ala. 
Gentlemen: 

Enclosed find check for $150.00 in full payment of our 
indebtedness to you to date. 

We appreciate very much your prompt and efficient work 
in our behalf. 

Yours very truly, 





ENCYCLOPEDIA 



447 




il n if it if u "__ , ■ ■ t! It I' I! ft ft 

## == PARAGRAPHS == ## 

II II II I I II It _ If I I f f ft ff If 




(37) EXPLANATION . 

These are the separation of the topics, or thoughts, in composi- 
tion, not closely connected, by commencing each on a new line, the 
first line being indented. 

In typesetting, this indentation is usually an em quod; in pen- 
manship, about half-an-inch; in typewriting, five to ten spaces. 

(38) APPEARANCE AND EMPHASIS .. 

This separation not only enhances the appearance of the page and 
makes the reading more intelligible, but adds emphasis to the differ- 
ent items. 

A letter, or a full page of any matter, not paragraphed, does 
not look well; it appears too solid. On the other hand, the combin- 
ation of very small and very large paragraphs, on the same page, is 
not pleasing. An effort should be made toward uniformity in size. 

Sentences closely related should not, ordinarily, be separated 
in this manner, unless the object be to emphasize each point. This 
plan of emphasis is adopted largely in advertising matter and has 
proven effective. 

It is bad form to carry over the last line of a paragraph to 
the next page. Carry over at least two lines. 

(39) DOUBLE - SPACED PARAGRAPHS . 

The paragraphs in single-spaced matter can be separated with 
advantage by a double space. 

(40) INDENTATIONS . 

Indent all paragraphs either five or ten spaces from the margin, 
so that they will be regular. Where the lines are short, five spaces 
are preferable. 

A good form, especially in letters, is to indent the first para- 
graph 10 spaces, and all of the following paragraphs five spaces. 

(41) CLOSING SENTENCES . 

Closing sentences, such as the following, should commence new 
paragraphs : 

Awaiting your further favors, I am, 

Trusting you will give this your attention, we are, 





448 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 





$c $C $C $0 $C $C $C $C $C $C $C $0 $C $C $C $0 $c $c $c $ 

$ LEGAL MATTER $ 

$c$cfc$c$c$ctc$c$c$c$c$c$c$c$c$c$c$c$c$ 

* $ 

(67) VALUE OF ACCURACY . 

Legal documents, more than any other, should be free from era- 
sures and alterations. The prime feature of such documents is to 
make the intent and meaning absolutely free from the possibility of 
misconstruction, or the claim of dishonest alteration. 

(68) FEATURES OF STYLE . 

Numbers and sums of money should always be spelled out, with 
Initial capitals on the latter, and repeated in figures within paren- 
theses. 

The names of parties to an agreement, or the party making an 
affidavit, etc., should, when first named, be written in full caps. 
The advantage of this is that the documents, and the parties in 
interest, can be recognized at a glance. 

The title or introduction should be in full caps; as, THIS 
INDENTURE, THIS AGREEMENT, etc.; so also, the introduction to the 
different items on new paragraphs; as, IT IS FURTHER AGREED, TO HAVE 
AND TO HOLD, IN WITNESS WHEREOF, etc. 

The word WITNESSETH coming after the first paragraph containing 
the title and names of parties to an agreement, should be placed in 
a line by itself, indented five spaces from the left margin, and be 
in full caps, preferably with a space between each letter, followed 
by a colon. Indent all paragraphs 10 spaces. 

Citations should be indented and single spaced. 

Capitalize the names of courts. 

Double-space all legal documents, unless otherwise instructed, 
and be liberal in spacing headings. 

(69) PAPER WITH MARGINAL RULING . 

Paper with marginal rulings for typewriting is being used less 
every year. When writing on such paper, care must be exercised to 
keep the writing well within the lines. If the paper is not put into 
the machine perfectly straight, the writing at the lower part of the 
page will be much nearer the marginal line than that at the top, and 
may go beyond it. 

Place the marginal stops of the machine so that the writing will 
be at least three spaces within the left line and two spaces within 
the right. 




A knowledge of the forms shown in the following examples will 
fit a stenographer for work in a law office. 




ENCYCLOPEDIA 



449 




Legal tatter 




KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS : 

That I, THOMAS SHAAD, Merchant, of the City of Chicago, 
County of Cook and State of Illinois, "being of sound and disposing 
mind and memory, do hereby make, publish and declare this to be my 
Last Till and Testament, revoking all wills heretofore by me made. 

FIRST. — After all my just and lawful debts shall have been 
paid, I give, devise and bequeath the residue and remainder of the 
estate of which I may die possessed, real, personal, or mixed, to my 
beloved wife, MARGARET A. SHAAD, should she survive me. 

SECOND. — In the event of my said wife, Margaret A. Shaad, 
dying before me, I give, devise and bequeath all the eBtate of which 
I may die possessed, after my just and lawful debts shall have been 
paid, to my son JOHN SHAAD. 

THIRD. --I hereby appoint my said wife (in the event of her 
surviving me) as executrix of this my Last Will and Testament; but, 
in the event of her dying before me, I appoint my said son, John 
Shaad, as executor in her stead, and direct that no bond shall be 
required from either in the administration of my said estate. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOE, I, the above-named testator, have here- 
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of April, in the 
year of our Lord, One Thousand Nine Hundred and Three. 



SEAL 




The said Thomas Shaad, at said City 
of Chicago, Illinois, on said 26th day of 
April, A.D. 1903, signed and sealed this 
instrument and published and declared the 
same as and for his Last Will and Testa- 
ment in our presence; and we, at his re- 
quest, and in his presence, and in the 
"presence of each other, have hereunto 
signed our names as subscribing witnesses. 




450 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




888888 888888 

88==88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88==88 
88==88 FIGURES 88==88 
88==88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88=88==88 
888888 888888 




(102) ROMAN AND ARABIC NOTATION . 



Roman 




Arabic 


Roman 




Arabic 


Roman 




Arabic 


I 


= 


1 


XII 


= 


12 


I XL 


= 


40 


II 


= 


2 


XIII 


= 


13 


1 L 


= 


50 


III 


= 


3 


XIV 


= 


14 


1 LX 


= 


60 


IV 


= 


4 


XV 


= 


15 


LXX 


= 


70 


V 


= 


5 


XVI 


= 


16 


LXXX 


= 


80 


VI 


= 


6 


XVII 


= 


17 


1 xc 


= 


90 


VII 


= 


7 


XVIII 


= 


18 


1 c 


= 


100 


VIII 


= 


8 


XIX 


= 


19 


1 D 


= 


500 


IX 


= 


9 


XX 


= 


20 


DCC 


= 


700 


X 


= 


10 


XXI 


= 


21 


M 


= 


1000 


XI 


= 


11 1 


XXX 


= 


30 


MD 


= 


1500 



Roman notation may be written in lower case; as, ix, xviii. 
It is customary to put a period after Roman numbers, but that 
is a matter of choice. 

Lower case 1 makes the figure one, and capital the aero. 

(103) PUNCTUATION OF FIGURES. 




Do not use commas in a number spelled out: Two thousand fou? 
hundred eighty. 

Do not express cents, $.52. They may be written, $0.52, but 
only at the head of a column of figures. The proper manner is: 52c, 
52/, or 52 cents; the first preferred. 

Use the colon between hours, minutes and seconds: 12:30:05 P.M. 

Double figures denoting parts of 100 when spelled out are com- 
pounded: One hundred twenty-five. It is not necessary to use the 
conjunction and . 

Fractions are also compounded: Two-thirds, three-fourths. 

Scriptural texts, references, or credits: Gen. xiv, 24; II Sam. 
viii, 11-15. • 

Do not place a period after ordinal numbers: 21st, 22d, 23d, 
24th. They are not classed as abbreviations. 

Either of the following is correct: 22d, 23d, or 22nd, 23rd„ 
The former is preferred. 

It is a common plan to omit the letters on ordinal numbers in 
dates; as, May 8, 1903; but in the following and similar cases the 
letters should be used: Your favor of the 3rd inst. received. 

Absolutely correct form insists that ordinal numbers should 
always retain their endings, but custom has made the foregoing per- 
missible. 




ENCYCLOPEDIA 



451 




nni 




Wtilltl/tllfttMMttttttitttl 

T ABULATION 

y// / // / ////////////////////////// 




(109) DISTRIBUTION OF SPACE . 

The first operation in tabulation is to count the number of 
spaces the longest line of each column will occupy, then distribute 
the surplus spaces, giving the stub double the number of each of the 
other columns. 

The stub of a tabulation is the first column in which the name 
or description is written. 

Gauge each column by the longest line, which should be in the 
center of the space, or inclining one or two spaces to the right. 

Indent the word or words describing the sum or result of the 
columns; as, Total, Excess, Balance due, etc. 

(110) HEADINGS . 

Write the heading for the stub in full capitals, and those for 
the other columns in lower-case with initial capitals; except where 
there is a principal and a sub-head, in which case the principal head 
may be in full capitals. 

Center on each other the lines in headings of columns. 

Abbreviations are sometimes, necessary in column headings, but 
they should be used as sparingly as possible. Care must be taken to 
make them intelligible. 

In headings or display lines avoid as much as possible having 
two of the same length come together. 

(lil) CAPITALS . 

The principal words in a heading that is written in lower-case 
should be capitalized. 

It is good form to capitalize the principal words in the des- 
cription of items. 

When a line of description begins with a figure, the following 
word, or abbreviation, should be capitalized: 20 Boxes $5.00. 

(112) TO OR AT SIGN . 

An objectionable form in common use is the repetition of the 
sign © in columns. It can be implied just as well as the dollar sign 
or the month, which are not repeated unless something intervenes. 

The following example shows the style used by newspapers and 
other publications, the @ being repeated on each line and without a 
space on either side. The result is, the figures are crowded and, 
in a measure, indistinct. 

Note the difference in the column repeated. 





452 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Tabulation 




Prime Beeves, 1,200 to 1,600 lbs. ....... .$8.4009.00 

Good to Choice Beeves 7. 4008.25 

Pair to Good Shipping Steers 6.75@7.75 

Medium Beef Steers 6.25@7.00 

Plain and Medium Beef Steers 5. 3505.20 

Common to Rough, 1,000 to 1,200 lbs 4.25S5.30 

Good to Pancy Heifers 4.65@5.75 

Good to Choice Feeders 4.4005*50 



J8.40 O 9.00 


7.40 


8.25 


6.75 


7.75 


6.25 


7.00 


5.35 


6.20 


4.25 


5.30 


4.65 


5.75 


4.40 


5.50 



The repetition of © in accounts is a waste of time, especially 
when written by hand, and if the penmanship be inferior, the effect 
is bad. Teachers of bookkeeping and business practice can appreciate 
this. 

(113) DITTO SIGN. 



This sign is much abused and its elaborate use is a waste of 
time; neither does it onhance the appearance of the work, nor add 
to an intelligent understanding of the matter. 

When several words have to be dittoed, instead of placing the 
sign under each word, use the abbreviation, with or without a hyphen 
on each side, -do-. 

Of the following examples, No. 1 presents the statement clearly, 
and there can be no doubt created or mistake made as to its meaning. 
The only punctuation mark is the period after the contraction Aug., 
and even that may be omitted. No. 2 is, probably, the best, being a 
compromise between the extremes of simplicity and extravagance. No. 3 
shows the ditto sign in full force. No. 4 shows the repetition of @, 



(1) 



(2) 




Aug. 1 240 Hours Labor © 30c per Hour, $ 72 00 

8 345 30 103 50 

15 75 30 22 50 

$198 00 

Aug. 1, 240 Hours Labor at 30c per Hour $ 72.00 

8, 345 " 30c ■ " 103.50 

15, 75 " 30c n 22.50 

$198.00 

Aug. 1, 240 Hours Labor at 30^ per Hour $ 72.00 

" 8, 345 " " " 30^ " n 103.50 

" 15, 75 " " « 30^ " " 22.50 

$198.00 

Aug. 1, 240 Hours Labor © 30^ per Hour. $ 72.00 

" 8, 345 " " ©30^ " " 103.50 

15 , 75 " " © 30^ " " 22.50 

$198.00 




ENCYCLOPEDIA 



453 




. 




■7+-T+- 


-•J-:* ABBREVIATIONS t^* 

'AAA A A A A 




(121) TITLES. 



Abbreviat 


e titles 


before 


proper names, 


as follows: 


Gen. 




Lieut. - 


Col. 


Got. -Gen. 


Dr. 


Lieut. -Gen, 




Maj. 




Lieut .-Gen. 


Aid. (Sing, or Plu.) 


Maj .-Gen. 




Capt. 




Supt . 


Rev. 


Adjt.-Gen. 




Lieut. 




Prof. 


M. (Monsieur) 


Brig. -Gen. 




Gov. 




Hon. 


Mile. (Mademoiselle) 


Col. 




Mgr. 




Sig. (Signer) 


Mme. (Madame) 



U.S.A., U.S. IT., etc., are written without spaces when they fol- 
low a name; as, General Stewart, U.S.A. 

The abbreviated titles, Col., Capt., etc., are used with the 
full name. Spell out when only the surname is given: Col. John 
Smith, Colonel Smith. 

Titles of two words may be contracted in both cases: Lieut. -Gen. 
Smith. 



(122) STATES . 



Names of states when following names of towns or counties within 
them, may be abbreviated, but not otherwise; as, Detroit, Mich.; Cook 
County, 111. Abbreviate or spell out, as follows: 




Ala. 


Ela. 


La. 


Neb. 


Ohio 


Tex. 


Alaska 


Ga. 


Me. 


Nev. 


Okla. 


Utah 


Ariz. 


Idaho 


Md. 


N. H. 


Oreg. 


Vt. 


Ark. 


111. 


Mass. 


N. J. 


Pa. 


Va. 


Calif. 


Ind. 


Mich. 


N. Mex. 


R. I. 


Wash. 


Colo. 


Ind. T. 


Minn. 


N. Y. 


S. C. 


W. Va 


Conn. 


Iowa 


Miss. 


N. C. 


S. Dak. 


Wis. 


Del. 


Kans. 


Mo. 


N. Dak. 


Tenn. 


Wyo. 



D. C. 



Ky. 



Mont, 



Do not use the abbreviation when the name of a state stands 
alone, unless it is absolutely necessary to save apace. 

The names of foreign countries, or their divisions, should not 
be contracted, except Canada: Toronto, Ont., Canada; Quebec, P. Q., 
Canada. 

A plan, much in favor with the postal authorities, is to spell 
out the names of states on addresses. 

Do not abbreviate the names of towns. 




454 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Abbreviations 




<123) DAY, MONTIf , YEAR . 

The name of the month and the word month should not be contracted 
in the body of a document. The name may be contracted on the date 
line of a letter, or where space is limited, as on bills, statements, 
etc. The better forms are: 

On October 14th; not, On Oct. 14th. 

The month of December; not, The mo. of Dec. 

A common method of dating is, 10/3/03, for October 3rd, 1903. 

Abbreviate ultimo, instant, proximo, only when preceded by 
figures; as, 15th ult., 15th inst., 15th prox. 

Ultimo, last month; instant, present month; proximo, next month. 

(124) MOUNT , FORT , COMPANY , Etc. 

It is preferable not to abbreviate Mount or Fort; as, Mount St. 
Elias, Mount Vernon, Port Wayne, Port Lincoln; also, railroad, com- 
pany, etc., when occurring after the name; as, lake Shore Railroad, 
Evans Transportation Company; and in firm names when not preceded by 
short &; as, The Edwards- Jones Company. 

When an abbreviation is used, all other words in the title, sub- 
ject to abbreviation, should be contracted: C, B. & Q. R.R., Thomas 
Mfg. Co. 

Company may be contracted in N. P. Carter & Co., but care should 
be exercised to follow the style used on the stationery of the con- 
cern, especially in the names of corporations. 

(125) STREET, AVENUE , Etc . 

There are three forms of writing Street, Avenue, Boulevard, etc.: 
Madison Street, Madison St., Madison-st.; Dearborn Avenue, Dearborn 
Ave., Dearborn-ave.; Grand Boulevard, Grand Blvd., Grand-blvd. The 
first, in each case, is preferred. 



(126) MISCELLANEOUS . 

County should not be contracted when accompanied by the name of 
a place within it; as, Chicago, Cook County; Joliet, Will County. It 
may be abbreviated on an address. 

Do not use the apostrophe and period to indicate a contraction. 
Use either the one or the other; as, M'f'g or Mfg.; the latter form 
being preferred. 

Avoid commencing a sentence with an abbreviation: Colorado Fuel 
sustained a heavy loss. Not, Col. Fuel sustained a heavy loss. 

Use the contractions for Senior or Junior only when coupled with 
names: R. Edgeworth, Sr., H. Graham, Jr. 

When a contraction ends a sentence, the period indicating it 
Serves also to mark the close of the sentence; 





ENCYCLOPEDIA 



455 




CAPITALIZATION 




(129) IN NEWSPAPERS . 

"Capitalize John Smith and the town; everything else in lower 
case,'' is the extravagant description, by an editor, of the style 
used on his paper. 

The expression is not altogether unwarranted, as a perusal of 
metropolitan newspapers will testify. 

In them, small letters are used on names of organizations (hoard 
of trade); on street, avenue, court, etc. (La Salle street, Dearborn 
avenue, Deming court); on words denoting form of an organization 
(Lufkin's Wrecking company, Union League club); on titles, even when 
they are used with direct reference to, or instead of, the full name 
of a person (king, pope, secretary of state); and in many other cases 
that well-established rules of style insist should be capitalized. 

(130) IN CORRESPONDENCE . 

Capitalization in correspondence tends to the other extreme. The 
goods handled or manufactured by a concern are emphasized by initial 
capitals: We shipped the Chairs and Carpets today. 

This is good form and is used extensively in railroad corres- 
pondence, all freight named being capitalized: Coal, Iron, Household 
Goods, Panning Implements, etc. 

(131) POINTS OP THE COMPASS . 

Capitalize the points of the compass when a section of the 
cpuntry or city is referred to: North, East, South, West, Northeast, 
North Side, etc. 

When direction is meant, use small letters: North, east, south, 
and west, desolation prevailed. 

Compounds are better written as one word: Northwest, southeast, 
southwestern, northwesterly. 

(132) COMPANY. 




Company is capitalized when it directly refers to a certain firm 
or corporation using, that word in its title: The Company has made a 
new bond issue. 

When the reference is not definite, and does not relate to an 
organized firm or corporation, use small letters:. 

We made up a pleasant company for the excursion. 

I intend to organize a company for the promotion of our 

interests. 
The Jarvis Creamery Association is a company having a good 
reputation. 
Capitalize the military designation: Company A. 




456 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Capitalization 




(133) NAMES OF ORGANIZATIONS . 

Capitalize the name of any company, corporation, stock, mine, 
mill, works, plant, church, institute, association, league, union, 
legion, college, school, university, or hank. 

Examples: Apollo House Wrecking Company, United States Steel 
Corporation, International Power, New York Air Brake, Bonanza Mine, 
North Chicago Rolling Mills, Grant Locomotive Works, Maid of Erin 
Pumping Plant, First Methodist Church, Church of the Epiphany, Club 
of Rounders, Union league Club, Royal Geographical Society, Society 
of Electrical Engineers, Lewis Institute, Institute of Technology, 
Paterson Institute, Young Men's .Christian Association, Union League, 
League of American Wheelmen, North Division High School, Chicago 
University, Association College, National Bank of North America, 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. 

When a name is used without direct reference to such as named 
ahove, do not capitalize: The railway companies, water works, geo- 
graphical societies, national banks, etc. But, where there is a 
direct reference to a certain concern, use capitals, even though the 
full name be not given. 

(134) COURTS , BUILDINGS , COMMITTEES , Etc . 

Capitalize the names of courts: Supreme Court, Circuit Court, 
Court of Appeals, State Supreme Court, Criminal Court. Also, the 
word Court when used to designate the presiding judge or judges. 

Halls, buildings, arcades, parks: Brand's Hall, Masonic Temple, 
Monadnock Block, Tribune Building, Association Building, Hull House, 
White House, Lincoln Park. 

Committees, bureaus, departments: Committee of Ways and Means, 
Reception Committee, Water Bureau, Bureau of Repairs, War Department, 
Tsung li Yamen, British War Office. 

(135) ABBREVIATIONS . 

Capitalize No. and Sec, and only use these abbreviations when 
followed by figures. Spell out and use small letters, otherwise. 

Contractions following figures should not be capitalized. 

Abbreviated titles are capitalized, and are used only in con- 
junction with names: Capt., Col., Mr., Esq., etc. 



(136) NICKNAMES . 

Nicknames should be capitalized. 

In baseball use capitals on, Pirates, Orioles, Colts, White Sox, 
Red Stockings; also where colors are used; as, Reds, Blues,. Crimsons, 
Maroons, etc. 

Inhabitants of different states; as, Badgers, Wolverines, Buck- 
tails, Suckers. 





ENCYCLOPEDIA 



457 








Comma 

Period 

Parentheses 

Hyphen 

Apostrophe 



. . . MARKS . . . 

; Semi-colon 
? Interrogation 
£ J Brackets 

"" Double Quotation 
Underline 



: Colon 

! Exclamation 

•- Dash 

1 Single Quotation 

A Caret 



Reference marks may be classed here but they are rarely used, 
and the ordinary typewriters do not provide them, except by special 
request. 



INT ROD UCTORY 



(167) OBJECT . 

The object of punctuation is, by the separation of words and 
groups of words, to make the meaning clear, to avoid ambiguity, and 
to emphasize certain passages and expressions. 

The rules being flexible, and subject to intelligent manipula- 
tion, an opportunity is presented for the display of much skill and 
good taste. 

(168) THREE GRADES . 

There are three grades of punctuation: that seen in high-class 
magazines and standard literature, which represents perfection; that 
in newspapers, which is open, merely sufficient to avoid obscurity 
and make the reading intelligible; and, the medium between those two, 
•which is, Commercial Punctuation. 



(169) HOW TO LEARN IT EASILY . 

The most convenient manner of learning to punctuate acceptably 





458 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Commercial Punctuation 




is to form the habit, while reading, of watching the marks, and 
criticizing their effect. 

With a knowledge of the fundamental rules, the value of each 
mark, and the grammatical construction, this plan is, possibly, the 
best; because, from criticism the most lasting and most intelligent 
conception is gained. 

(170) £0 NOT ELABORATE . 

Avoid elaborate punctuation and you will err less. The generous 
use of the comma is more apt to emphasize a lack of knowledge of the 
subject than to receive applause. It, with the dash, is abused. 

Punctuation marks are enemies to the typewriter. look at the 
cylinder of your machine and see their effect. Do not concentrate 
the full force of your physical energy when typewriting the punctua- 
tion marks. Touch them gently. 

(171) VALUE OP MARKS. 




The smallest degree of separation is represented by the comma; 
the next in order of increased separation are, the semi-colon, colon, 
and period. 

The interrogation or exclamation, at the end of a sentence, 
equals the period in strength. In the body of a sentence, it may 
equal the comma, semi-colon, or colon; in which event, the following 
word need not be capitalized. 

The parentheses and brackets are akin to the comma, marking a 
stronger parenthetical separation. The tendency is to abolish the 
brackets in reading matter, and use the parenthesis as rarely as 
possible. 

The dash equals the colon in strength, and when used on both 
sides of a phrase or clause, has the same force as the parenthesis, 
and is often given the preference. 

The underline is a mark of emphasis and equals the placing of 
the words underlined in italics, if they be in lower-case 

The double quotation marks separate the words of a second party 
from those of the speaker or writer. The single quotations separate 
the words of a third party from those of the other two. 

The hyphen is not a mark of separation; it connects compound 
words, also the syllables of words divided at the end of a line. 

The apostrophe denotes the possessive case, is used in plural* 
izing letters and figures, and notes an elision. 

The caret mark is more emphatically known as the "blunder mark." 

The brace connects several items with a common definition. 

SPACING, 

Put two spaces between sentences. The dash and hyphen must not 
have a space on either side. The parentheses should be close to the 
words they enclose. 




ENCYCLOPEDIA 



459 





44H Duplicating 44f4 



MIMEOGRAPH 



(1) There are four kinds of mimeographs in general use, the Standard 
Hand Mimeograph, the Automatic, the Diaphragm, and the Oscillator. The 
manufacture of the two former has been discontinued, the two latter being 
improvements. 

(2) The directions given by the manufacturers with each style are ex- 
plicit and should be followed carefully. 

(3) Before making a stencil, be sure that the tissue paper is in front, 
otherwise the type will soon be filled with wax. Remove the ribbon so the 
naked type can strike the stencil sheet. Clean the type thoroughly. 

(4) You cannot be too gentle in handling a stencil. The slightest 
buckling will make a break, through which the ink will appear. 

(5) If a wrong letter be struck, or wrong words be written, scrape' 
some wax off the side or end of the stencil sheet and paste it over the 
error, so that all the crevices are filled, smooth it with the finger, 
then write' the proper letter or word over the patch. A wrong letter may 
sometimes be successfully erased by rubbing with the finger nail. 

(6) The fibre sheet accompanying each stencil sheet for the old style 
Standard Mimeograph should be placed in the frame so that it will be be- 
tween the ink roller and the stencil. Its object is to strengthen and 
protect the stencil. 

(7) The stencil, when adjusted for printing, should be absolutely 
free from crease, bulge, or looseness. If not, the stencil will soon 
crack and dirty work result. 

(8) The cracks along the sides of the stencil, caused by folding on 
the backing sheet preliminary to cutting the stencil, should be covered 
with stencil varnish and stripB of thin paper after the stencil has been 
fastened in the mimeograph frame . 

(9) The folding at the sides of stencils on backing sheets is neces- 
sary only when making them for the old style machines. Those for the 
other machines are made to fit the typewriter. 

(10) Work the ink through on a blotter, or sheet of soft paper. A 
better and quicker first copy can thus be secured. Too much ink is about 
as bad as too little. Light pressure and the least quantity of ink neces- 
sary produces the best work, and the stencil lasts longer. 





460 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Mimeograph Duplicating 




(11) Light and dark streaks of printing are produced by uneven ink- 
ing. Do not use a great deal of ink at first and distribute it well. On 
the Oscillator the ink is fed to the stencil through a pad by capillary 
attraction which practically assures uniform distribution. The copies 
should be watched closely to determine when more ink is needed. 

(12) 'When the slightest evidence of a break, or a spot, appears on 
the paper, cover the break or spot on the stencil sheet with varnish, and 
thin paper if possible. 

(13) For drying purposes, put letters between sheets of soft paper, 
or blotters, as they are being run off, then squeeze in a letter-press 
until dry. These smut sheet6 may be used a great many times. 

(14) The best and quickest work can be done on a soft, absorbent 
paper, smut sheets being unnecessary. 

(15) The same fibre sheet can be used for several job6 on the old 
style mimeographs, if done the same day, or before the ink has dried. This 
makes a decided saving of ink, as quite a quantity is needed to thoroughly 
saturate the fibre sheet. / 



(16) If this plan be followed, there will be a surplus of fibre 
sheets. These can be used instead of the silk backer. This is another 
measure of economy that, perhaps, produces better v/ork, as the fibre sheet 
is clean, while the silk sheet may be covered with wax. 

(17) PILLING IN NAMES. — 'When typewriting names on mimeographed cir- 
cular letters to make them appear personal, write each name even with the 
margin of the body of the letter. If the names are those of individuals 
and firms, the salutation should be written on the stencil with a space 
between Dear Sir and the colon, for the insertion of s. 

Use a ribbon that will match the ink after it has dried. Strike the 
punctuation marks lightly when filling in names. 

The names and addresses may be typewritten on the letterheads prior 
to mimeographing the letter. This enables the stenographer to utilize 
spare moments. Of course, care must be taken to write the names exactly 
at the same place on each sheet, or it will be impossible to keep the 
margins even when printing the letters. 

Better work, however,, can be produced by filling in after mimeograph- 
ing, as some of the circulars may be lighter than others, and the force in 
striking the keys can be regulated to match the density of each circular. 
TOien the printing is heavy and the typewriting clean cut, double the rib- 
bon for better matching. 





ENCYCLOPEDIA 



461 




Manifolding 



7 




1. Semi-carbon is the name given to carton paper inked on one side. 
Pull carton is that inked on both sides. 

2. When making 10 or more copies at the same time, use very thin 
semi-carbon and writing paper to get bright, legible copies. In making 
that number, use a heavy backing sheet, as, especially in damp weather, 
the paper clings to the roller, and is liable to get caught between the 
rollers and be carried around a second time. A plan commonly adopted is 
to fold about an inch of the backing sheet at the top, into which the 
writing paper is placed, thus making it easy to insert in the machine. 

3. Decide on a certain rule for arranging the carbons. If you place 
them in a haphazard manner, they are liable, at times, to be placed in the 
machine the wrong way. Make this your rule: Always lay the carbon, inked 
side towards you when placing the work in the machine. Of course, there 
must be writing paper on both sides of the carton. 

4. Where several copies are being made at once, one mistake means 
several mistakes. The correction of these should be made after the page 
has been finished. It is possible, however, to correct mistakes while the 
paper is in the machine by turning back the paper, placing a piece of 
paper between the carbon and the carbon copy while erasing the error on 
the original copy. The danger of this plan is the likelihood of the paper 
being moved so that the carbon copy becomes displaced. 

5. Use carbons the same color as the ribbon. If the color and shade 
are exact, corrections on carbon copies made with the ribbon are all right. 
If the colors are not the same; a piece of the carbon paper may be placed 
over the ribbon. 



6. If the operator be rapid, it is, in some cases, quicker to rewrite 
a page than make several corrections on a number of carton copies. 

7. The carbon sheets nearest the type wear out more quickly than the 
others. When the first one gets dim, take it out, then place a new sheet 
at the bottom* This preserves a good print for the last copy 

8. If the carbon sheets become creased, they should be smoothed out, 
or destroyed; otherwise-, the writing paper will be streaked. 

9. Pull carbon is used where a large number of copies have to be made 
at once. Tissue paper, for the writing, is used in conjunction with it. 
Two sheets of the writing paper are placed between each carbon, also two 
in front and one at the back. The paper being almost transparent* the 
printing on the sheets that have the writing on the back is almost as 





462 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 




Carbon Manifolding 




legible as the others. In this kind of work, the typewriter ribbon is not 
used, and as the first sheet gets cut by the naked type it is destroyed. 

10. Do not use cheap carbon paper. It smuts; is short-lived; the 
impression is rough and irregular; it costs more eventually. 

11. Do not use carbon that is too fresh. The pressure of the type- 
writer rollers makes an impression all over the page, and the letters are 
blurred and indistinct. 

12. Many business houses have discontinued the -use of the letter-presa 
and substituted the carbon copy. The advantages of this are: The copy can 
be filed with the letter it answers, or in other suitable manner; letters 
are not blurred, and perhaps unreadable, as are many of those that go 
through the process of letter-press copying; a legible copy is assured; it 
permits the exclusive use of record ribbons, which do not smut and do much 
cleaner work; it. enables the operator to address envelopes with a record 
ribbon, so that moisture can not injure the legibility of the address. 

13. FILLING IN NAMES. — To fill in names on duplicate carbon letters, 
to make them appear as originals, place a piece of carbon paper of the 
same color over the ribbon; or, better still, to get the exact shade, 
place the duplicate letter and a carbon with a blank sheet of paper in 
front, in the machine. The blank sheet should be marked, as a guide, so 
that the name may be written exactly in the right place. 



ooooooooooo 



R I B B N S . . 



Copying ribbons may be distinguished from non-copying by moistening 
the writing. If it blurs, it is a copying ribbon. 

The work of a worn or curled ribbon may be improved by turning it 
over. 

A ribbon is at its best when half worn. The work is cleaner and 
smuts less. 

Do not buy cheap ribbons. They are more expensive in the end, do 
inferior work, and fill the type. 

Ribbons vary in width for different machines. See to it that the 
ribbon is suitable to the machine. 

If your work be of a general character, including documents that are 
not to be copied in a letter-pres3, put a copying and a non-copying ribbon 
on the machine. Two ribbons may be more than the spools will hold, in 
which event, put on a half of each ribbon. 

Blue and purple are the favorite colors for commercial work. Black 
should be used for all legal documents. 





ENCYCLOPEDIA 



463 



A SIMPLE COURSE IN SHORTHAND 

WRITING 




A Group of Paterson Students 

To the uninitiated, shorthand presents a mysterious and awe-inspiring front, but once this 
influence is removed the student of phonography finds it an easy and fascinating study. There are 
comparatively few who know of the great strides made in the development of an ideal system of 
shorthand. Almost two thousand years ago the first known system of shorthand writing was created 
by Marcus Tullius Tiro, a freedman of Cicero. It consisted of brief arbitrary signs, each sign repre- 
senting a certain word. Shorthand today is, practically, the making of brief, distinctive signs to 
represent words, but the student now has the advantage of learning shorthand by a systematic, 
intelligent plan, based on an alphabet equivalent to the longhand alphabet, but composed of single 
strokes, and written according to the sounds in a word, not according to the spelling. This plan 
enables the student to write correct and distinctive outlines for thousands of words without having 
to go through the process, as in olden times, of memorizing each word. The improvement and 
development of shorthand may be measured by a decreasing number of arbitrary signs; that is, 
signs which have no reference to the alphabet, or, if taken from the alphabet, contain no suggestion 
of the words represented. It is claimed that Tiro's system, which originated about the year 63 B. C, 
was wholly composed of such signs. Many of the systems of the nineteenth century had very few 
of the words in common use written according to the alphabet plan, which necessitated the student's 
memorizing from 1,500 to 3,000 arbitrary word signs and distinctive outlines of words that conflicted, 
and even some systems of the present day are excessive in this regard. 

In selecting a system of shorthand to be appear on these pages, care was taken to select the 
one best suited to the requirements of the twentieth century, .and one that demonstrates the least 
necessity for imposing on the student the laborious task of memorizing arbitrary signs. We found 
this system to be Paterson Phonography. It is a natural system, written in the free, flowing style of 
longhand writing; it is beautiful in outline and clean-cut, besides possessing a degree of legibility 
that has never been equaled by any other method. The simplicity and ease of mastering it is a 
revelation to those whose dread of the difficulties of learning shorthand has kept them from acquiring 
a knowledge of this intensely practical and useful accomplishment. The perfection of any invention 
lies in its simplicity of construction, and this system being built along the lines of the greatest sim- 



464 ENCYCLOPEDIA 

plicity, consistent with practical utility, it stands in the forefront as the best system of shorthand 
for the office, the court, or the convention. 

The following lessons are reproduced herein by permission of H. Graham Paterson of Chicago, 
111., who is a 'reporter and teacher, and is the author and publisher of "Paterson Phonography," 
"Style Manual for Stenographers, Reporters and Correspondents," and "Typewriting by the Piano 
Method." 

PATERSON PHONOGRAPHY 

The lessons herein cover Part I of the Text Book, and do not comprise all of the abbreviating 
expedients, but they give sufficient knowledge of shorthand to enable the student to make a practical 
use of it. 

LESSON I. 

Shorthand is the representation of words by brief characters which indicate only the sounds 
necessary to legibility, and is phonetic. Gnaw is spelled n-o; dough, d=o; take, t=5=k; coat, k=o=t. 
Silent letters are disregarded. 

Each alphabetic sign represents the sound of the heavy type in its accompanying word or words. 

P B T D Th Ted N M Ah Ae Aw Oh 

I I — --. "^ *~^> s~ >> o o O O 

Pay Bay To Do The Deduce Not May At Air Lot Load 

Written downward • Detain Upward Are 

Waited 

The purpose of having two N's is to insure better combinations and more clearly defined angles. 

The base of the first consonant in a word rests on the line of writing. 

Circles are written inside of curves, and on straight lines they are written in the direction the 
hands of a watch move. Where an acute angle is formed, or the combination would be awkward, 
place the circle outside of the angle. 

Distinction is unnecessary between the soft and hard sounds of th, as in Bath and Bathe. 

READING EXERCISE: 



r -? 



cr Q 



*£ — <£ <* °^^ c ^~ ^ y ~^~^ -f - r = r ~ -"■? ~^? ~& -*? -f* 

WRITING EXERCISE: Aim, at, ate, bath, bay, boat, Dane, date, daub, day, dough, gnaw, 
maim, man, mane, map, mat, matted, mode, name, nod, noted, odd, ought, owe, owed, paid, pain, 
pan, patted, pay, pod, pot, tab, tame, tap, taught, they, though, tone, toe, top. 

SPECIAL ABBREVIATIONS: 

/ / . _ - \ ^— ^ r s—^ o O . ~\^ «*. 

I Of A Today Period 
Off An 



Upon 


Be 


To 


Do 


The Did 


In 


Me 




By 


It 




With Debt 




May 
My 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



465 



READ: 




WRITE: The man made a bad aim. Name the boat the Dane made. The maid ought to 
name the day. The pain made me moan. I ought to pay the mate. I bade my mate mop the 
boat. I made the dough today. My man may pay the note. I made the daub upon the dome. 
I dated it to be paid by today. They did detain the man in the boat. I am to do it upon the date 
named. I may pay the debt today. 

Make it an unfailing practice to read everything written in shorthand. It is as necessary to gain 
skill in reading as in writing. Each is an aid to the other. 



R 



/ 



G 



LESSON II. 



K 



Ray Lay 
Written upward 



Go Kind 



i-Eh 


E 


Uh 


Oo 


n 


n 


u 


a 


Bit 


Beat 


Luck 


Foot 


Bet 






Food 



G has only the hard sound of that letter, as in Gate. Its soft sound is the same as J, as in Rage, 
Jump. 

K also represents the hard sound of C, as in Can. The soft C, as in Place, sounds S. 

A circle vowel coming between opposing curves is placed in the second curve. See: Game, 
Comb, Knock. 

In many cases vowels are slurred, or so lightly enunciated as to be barely distinguishable; 
as, E in Manner; in Favor, etc. Such vowels need not be written. 

W at the beginning of a word has the same sound as the long vowel Oo, and Y has that of long 
E ; therefore, the signs for W and Y are the same as those for Oo and E, with the exception that 
the dots are not used. 



READ: 



Y 



^ 



J3~- 



A-> 



/-v 



o 



-•*■* 



y 



<Jl_; (S^- ijl^s ^-2- 



466 ENCYCLOPEDIA 

WRITE: Ache, beaded, came, candid, coated, cog, comb, cut, deeded, dock, dog, duet, dude, 
due, dumb, dump, duty, eat, egg, gag, gain, game, gap, gate, gutted, hopper, key, knock, manner, 
meet, mock, nag, neat, new, nut, pack, teeth, than, tooth, tune, up, wade, wag, wait, wake, yacht. 

SPECIAL ABBREVIATIONS: 

Are Will Go Give Gave Good Can Could Make We You 
Or Well Got Kind 

READ: 

6~ — - ■*-' -*- r> <*? --. a> v s cP— 6~ •<. e_y ■*. 

o O u • /<7~~ jy- ' Q ^ ^_ v /*? -~ f 5 . ^ O -~- SH — v-* -X 

~~~- » ^ <^n. ^ <Ji — <5~ *>v. d?~ ;*. /o ^_P ^, v_x^ ^ — g~ -»> v 9i x. 



ce- 



. y> 



WRITE: We will go upon the dock. You may take my coat to the boat. The man may go 
to the gate. Can we take the pack to the widow? You may go to the game on the nag. We know 
the hopper can wait on the deck. I owe you a note due today. Do you know the name of the new 
tune. The kind widow will wait on the yacht. We gave the good man the cane. I can give you 
the weight today. We could take it in a cab to you. 



LESSON III. 



s 


Z Ch 


J 


H 


F V 


I 


Ow 


Oi 


c 


O C 


r 


j 


J J 


£77 


&> 





Say 


Zest Chair 


Jot 


Hat 


Fat Vat 


Tie 


Cow 


Oil 


Written downward 















u 



Mute 



The diphthong U may be indicated by the latter half of the sign. See, Few, Mute, Unity. Use 
the complete sign in Youth and unusual words. 

Ih and Eh may be omitted from the inside of words, except when preceded by initial W or Y 

READ: 

^_ ^ ^ ^-v^ c^ Jl -— -^ -~r ^y "~> ^~^ 7 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 467 

WRITE: Bite, bag, cage, calf, cave, catch, chalk, chat, cheap, cheated, coach, cubic, cuff, 
die, dine, eye, , faded, fate, few, fight, fought, gaff, gauge, guide, happy, hat, heat, heated, height, 
hot, immune, Jack, Japan, kite, match, move, muff, mute, nudge, page, puffer, tough, vote, voted, 
vine, waft, waffle, watch, wave, youth. 

S (including Z and soft C) being the most frequent sound, the briefest method is used to indicate 
it. 

Shade the preceding character to imply S. (K and S produce the sound of X, as in Tax.) 

Where S commences a word, shade the next character. 

READ: 



^ 



— ^ 



-OS— aJ y~S> S^ s v-w- -"-^ <^— O 



<7* — <^_s ~~0 -—v <*__• ^ <TT v_£>- v_^~ ^_jZ, 02^ 



rY~ ai <j~> <r<~ * — -q_-v f?. cr — e^~~- c/- 



Zf 



WRITE: Accede, accept, access, as, ax, base, cakes, cause, cheese, deeds, design, despise, 
discuss, dismay, doubts, face, gas, less, meets, miss, nights, owes, poise, tax, this, those, thus, wax, 
scene, scott, scout, scow, scythe, seat, sense, side, sigh, sign, smoke, snow, sod, south, spot, 
staff, steam. 

Where two distinct S sounds have to be shown on a single form, shade for the first S and use 
the alphabetic form for the second S. 

X <? f 7 •"? "7" 

Sues Size Sows Sees Sits 

SPECIAL ABBREVIATIONS: 

Us Which Joy Judge He If Have From How Was House Receive 
Change Him For Ever Form Out Receipt 

READ: ' 




468 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



WRITE: The judges will sign it on Tuesday. The city had to stop the business. I see the 
watchman has taken it out. If the design is bought it may meet with favor. The boys are happy 
as they eat the cakes. We may go at night to the cottages. We can discuss these topics now. If 
he sues me now I will have to pay him soon. It is easy if you know how. The stout man sat upon 
the sofa. The joy of happiness is not to be despised They say it could not be taken up for many 
days. 



LESSON IV. 



Ent or 


End 


Ten or Den 


Tif-Dif 


Tiv-Div 


Tim-Dim 


Tic-Die 


V_ 


"^ 


C- ">S 


r> 


<y 


. 


^_^ 


Rent 


Mend 


Mitten 


Notify 


Native 


Timid 


Ticket 


Faint 


Land 


Hidden 


Modify 


Divert 


Demand 


Dictate 



The vowel in a double consonant sign may be either Ih, Eh, or any slurred vowel. 

The Tim-Dim, Tic-Die, Tif-Dif and Tiv-Div signs, are only used on words of more than one 
syllable. 

Omit vowel dots except from unusual, unfamiliar, or solitary words which need full vocalization 
to preserve legibility. 

Where the Ent or Ten sign stands alone, use the first form of each; where End or Den is alone, 
use the second. If these signs are in combination with other characters, either form may be used, 
giving preference to this discrimination, provided the facility of execution be not impaired. See: 
Sent, Send, Tense, Dense. 

Give preference to the Ent=End signs in such syllables as Dent, Tent, Tend, except where the 
use of the Ten=Den signs would be a marked improvement. See: Dent, Tent, Attend. 

Omit the diphthong I from words of more than one syllable which end with Fy. See: Testify, 
Stupefy, Defy. 

Omit any medial vowel which immediately precedes the Tif=Dif or Tiv=Div forms. See: Native, 
Negative. 



READ: 



o 



^\y 



^L 



^ 



/Tr- n 




7 



s. 



vr> 



c/ ^. 



WRITE: Accident, accent, addendum, addict, advice, admit, affidavit, attentive, attic, band, 
batten, cotton, damage, decay, deceptive, decoy, deduct, defend, define, defy, demand, demise, 
dense, dent, device, diamonds, dictate, dimness, divide, domain, domestic, edify, fatten, fistic, hidden, 
instance, madam, maiden, midnight, mind, modify, motive, mystify, native, notify, sent, send, 
signify, stand, stupefy, symptom, temper, tenants, tendency, tense, tent, tentative, timid, tonight, 
went. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 469 

SPECIAL ABBREVIATIONS: 

->» v_ "^ n u ^ — <, - — ^ _•— , — - 

And Ton Done Difficult-y Advantage Them Took Time Does Its 

Said 'Tis 




e/ y~ 



WRITE: Such a defeat makes many deaths. I sent the news in every message to the captain. 
I have hidden the evidence. It is difficult for me to send it. We have a high wind though the sun 
is shaded. The things you state amuse me. I wish you could attend the band with me. I have 
made a dent in the cup you sent for him. We have the device you ask for. The sky does have 
every sign of change for tonight. The madam wants to paint the attic. The damage done was 
difficult to estimate. The time has come to make the defence. We will notify you when the wagons 
come to the house. It is said the difficulty may be advantageous to me. Go to them now and have 
done with it. 

LESSON V. 
Wh Ses Ish Ter-Tle Der-Dle , Ink Ing Qui 

Wheat Cases Dish Meter Fodder Think Ring Quick 
Written downward Mettle Fiddle Thank Rang Quack 

Written upward 

The sound of Wh is H-oo, as in Wheat = H-oo-e-t. The H in this combination, being slurred 
frequently in speaking, may be omitted. See: Wheat, Whip, Whack. 

Any other vowel besides E may be implied in the Ses sign; as, Cases, Prices, Cistern, Sausage, 
Suspense, Sassafras, Gazes, Saucy, Society. 

Incline Ter=Tle and Der=Dle just enough to prevent confliction with T and D. 

Omit Uh or Ow before the sound of an N, K, or hard Q. See: Bundle, Duck, Down, Dug. 



470 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



READ: 



*~-y 9 ^ 



J- C-J- < 1/ A> 



-~-J> 



rr 



^1 



J^ y> 



l^ ^ 



^-e 



y 



-s 




WRITE: Actor, amount, amuses, ash, assassin, assist, battle, beetle, bottle, bound, bundle, 
bung, bunk, cases, cash, castor, cattle, census, cistern, cutter, dash, dater, daughter, down, duck, 
dug, famish, fiddle, fighter, fish, fodder, found, fountain, futile, gash, gazes, gutter, hash, hatter, 
heater, history, hound, ink, kettle, madder, matter, meddle, metric, misses, motor, muddle, mug, 
muster, neater, needle, nettle, none, notary, oasis, paddle, peddle, pewter, quack, quaint, queen, 
sanctify, sanguine, sassafras, saucy, sausage, scatter, shaft, shake, shadow, shave, shine, sing, sings, 
sink, sinks, society, songs, stung, sputter, squadron, success, suspense, tender, thanks, thing, tosses, 
whack, wheat, when, whip, whom, wing, zest. 

SPECIAL ABBREVIATIONS: 



Doctor Should Ship-ped Letter That Anything Satisfactory-tion Member 
(Note examples of phrasing following this lesson.) 
READ: 



J^ 




^ 



OS*, 



WRITE: We have his letter of thanks to the members of the society for the kind assistance 
given. It will give me satisfaction to have you join me in the game. The doctor took his daughter 
to the hospital to assist him with the case. The squadron made a quick move to scatter the quaint 
paddle boats of the natives. The sisters are sanguine of success with the new songs. The notary 
who took the case does not wish to say anything. When the wheat is cut we can think of monetary 
matters. Assist me to find whose mug is in this cistern. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



471 



The combining of words into one outline is a pronounced incentive to speed. This is called 
phrasing 









< 



^zL 




Anything you wish 
Any matters 

At this point 
By the way 

Change the date 
Each day 

For him and you' 
Go upon it 

He may join 
He may be 

He took it 
If you should 




~2T 



6r> 



^ 



If it took 

I have the letter. 

If you can judge 
If you have done it 

In this case. 

It is kind of you 

Off and on 
Satisfactory to members 

Sent out today 
To my advantage 

Which is difficult 
Who shipped this 



This completes Part I of the text. All the sounds necessary to represent the language have 
been given, and it rests with the student of these lessons as to whether the advanced portions of the 
text are necessary for the purpose in view. 

Shorthand has proven the ideal stepping stone for future elevation. An income of $5,000 to 
$10,000 a year is not uncommon to reporters who have made a life-work along the line of shorthand 
writing. Many of the most prominent men in commercial and political life give thanks to the knowl- 
edge of shorthand they possessed for leading them to their present high positions. 

It has provided a profession that has made a vast army of women independent in a line of work 
peculiarly suited to their mental qualifications, being dignified, intellectual and lucrative. 




472 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



A STORY IN LONG HAND AND ALSO 
IN SHORTHAND 



GETTING A START IN LIFE 



Another thing which a young man especially 
should guard against is the borrowing of money 
which it may be difficult to repay, and more 
especially of using another person's money where 
there is a possibility of losing it. I have known 
instances where such hazards have been taken 
with most disastrous results, and early in my 
life I determined that nothing should ever tempt 
me to such a course. 

It is a common thing for very careful men to 
advise everybody in the world never to indorse 
another person's note, or to become another per- 
son's security. This advice sounds like the em- 



Gottlng a Start In Life 



^ •-• -*-*• / 



<?■ 



J, 



*-/L- 




S..S. Packard 



bodiment of wisdom as well as of caution, but 
unfortunately, it is advice that cannot be fol- 
lowed — at least until the present methods of 
business are abolished. There is one rule, how- 
ever, which not prudence alone but common 
honesty requires you to follow, and that is, never 
to become liable by endorsement for an amount 
which you cannot pay; and while honesty re- 
quires this, prudence requires more — that you 
should not thus become liable for an amount 
which you cannot afford to pay. 

I will not say to young men, "never get in 
debt," although, as a rule, it is 
best not to do so. But I will 
say, "Never get so far in debt as 
not to be able to see your way 
out; and then do not be satisfied 
with seeing your way out, but 
just as fast as you can work your 
way out." If you are ever so 
unlucky as to owe a man with- 
out being able to pay him when 
you have promised, and he ex- 
pects you to, don't look upon 
him as your enemy and avoid 
him. If there is a prospect of 
your meeting him on the street 
don't cross over to the other 
side in order not to meet him. 
Rather, if you are on the other 
side, cross over in order to meet 
him. Cultivate close relations 
with the man you owe, and let 
him feel that you neither forget 
nor desire to forget the obliga- 
tion. And finally — pay him. 

I have already referred to the 
important matter of getting a 
start in life. There are a few 
thoughts in this connection that 
I would like to present with a 
little more emphasis. The first is 
as to getting recognition When a 
dozen men rise at the same mom- 
ent to address the chairman of a 
deliberative body, only one of the 
dozen gets the privilege to occupy 
the floor, and he is the one whom 
the chairman recognizes. Theo- 
retically, the chairman will 
recognize the one who seemed to 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



473 



have the priority, or the one upon whom his eye 
first rested; practically — if there is the privilege 
of a choice — he will recognize the one whom he 
would like to favor, either as apt to advance his 
own views or for some other reason satisfactory 
to himself. The one who secures the recognition 
remains upon his feet and can state his case; the 
others have to wait. 

And thus I may say of the young man who 



desires to make his services useful to others and 
remunerative to himself — he must first obtain 
recognition. In case of competition he must, 
in some way, attract attention or make an im- 
pression that will open to him the door, so that 
he may go in and prove himself. This is a 
worthy subject of study for those who desire to 
get on in the world, and there is really no posi- 
tion in life where it is unimportant. 




ENCYCLOPEDIA 



475 



BOOKKEEPING 

By C. Austin Croninger. 

Principal Commercial School Young Men's Christian Association, Chicago, 111. 

Public Accountant and Auditor. 

The subject of Bookkeeping, although for centuries ranked as a necessary and important branch, 
has in recent years gained in prominence. Business today is becoming so complex and competitive 
that without an adequate and accurate system of Bookkeeping confusion and loss result both to the 
individual and to the community. In this busy age persons in all stations and vocations in life 
realize the necessity of giving their children a thorough commercial training no matter what their 
future work will be. To this end Business Colleges and Commercial High Schools are being establish- 
ed in large numbers. Even the rural schools are 
awakening to the importance of this training and 
are giving brief courses in Bookkeeping. 

But for the person who has not had or will not 
have such opportunity this course has been 
prepared. This work will also serve as a 
reference, since principles and examples of Single 
and Double Entry Bookkepeing will be given, 
together with forms of Trial Balances and 
Balance Sheets. 

Bookkeeping is the systematic arrangement of 
business transactions. It is divided into two 
classes, Single and Double Entry. The former 
deals with individuals only in the Ledger, while 
the latter not only keeps account with individuals 
but with property and expense accounts as well. 
While Single Entry is sufficient for a limited 
business with one proprietor, Double Entry 
should always be used where the accurate con- 
dition is to be determined, as the method is much 
more apparent and satisfactory. 

Probably the simplest form of account, and 
adequate to the needs of many is the single 
account with persons or property, as will be 
shown below. These accounts are usually kept 
with debit and credit columns side by side on a 
C. Austin Croninger singk page. 

RULE FOR DEBIT AND CREDIT OF PERSONS 

A person is our Debtor when he owes us or receives anything from us on account; and our 
Creditor when we owe him or receive anything from him on account. 

OUR ACCOUNT WITH JAMES WILSON. 
James Wilson. Dr. Cr. 




190— 
Jan. 



Repairing Buggy 

Cash 
Shoeing Horses 
10 bu. potatoes 
20 lbs. butter 

Cash in full 



.85 
.15 



16 



50 



50 



16 



50 



50 



476 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



O'UR ACCOUNT WITH GEORGE NEWMAN 
George Newman. Dr. 



Cr. 



190— 
Feb. 



1 
2 
5 
8 
9 
10 



2 tons hay 

Cash 
5 bu. tomatoes 
One Wagon 
5 days' labor with team 

Cash 

Balance 



$6.00 

.50 

$3.00 



12 


— 


10 


2 


50 


60 


■ 15 


— 




10 


50 




30 


— 




70 


— 


70 



A person can keep an account with his property or any variety of his property, and thereby 
determine the profit or loss derived from the same. 

A farmer can keep an account with his wheat field, or his cattle or poultry, and determine which 
department of his farming is most profitable. 

A merchant can keep an account with his merchandise, and determine the profit or loss on his 
sales. 

A carpenter can keep an account with each house he builds on a contract and show in the end 
if he has made a profit or loss on the contract. 

Property accounts may be kept in any of the forms used for other accounts. If the total credits 
exceed the total debits, the excess shows a gain. If the total debits exceed the total credits, the 
excess shows a loss. 

RULE FOR PROPERTY ACCOUNTS 

Debit property titles for any value expended upon them; and credit them for any value realized from 
them. 

Property accounts are closed the same as personal accounts except that the word "Loss" or 
"Gain" is written in the place of the word "Balance" in the red ink entry. 

OUR ACCOUNT WITH A POTATO FIELD 







Potato Field. 




Dr. 




Cr. 




190— 
















May 


1 


2 days' Plowing and Marking 


$3.00 


6 


— 








4 


15 bu. Seed Potatoes 


.50 


7 


50 








5 


5 days' Planting 


$1.25 


6 


25 






June 


4 


3 days' Cultivating 


$3.00 


9 


— 








11 


6 days' Hoeing 


$1.50 


9 


— 






July 


3 


3 days' Cultivating 


$3,00 


9 


— 








12 


7 days' Hoeing 


$1.25 


8 


75 






Oct. 


1 


10 days' Digging 


$1.25 


12 


50 






1 Dec, 


1 


250 bu. Potatoes sold 


.50 






125 


— 






50 bu. Potatoes, home 


.40 






20 


— 






Use of Ground 




15 


— 










Gain 




62 


— 








145 


— 


145 





ENCYCLOPEDIA 



477 



SINGLE ENTRY BOOKKEEPING 



The principal books kept in Single Entry are Day Book, Cash Book and Ledger. The Day 
Book and Cash Book are the books of original entry and are kept in books of the same kind of ruling. 

The Day Book is generally ruled with two amount columns, the first being used for the items 
of a transaction, and the second for the total of these items. If only one item belongs to a transac- 
tion, its amount can be carried to the last column. In opening a new set of books, the business 
address and the date shall first be entered in the Day Book at the top of the first page used for records. 
Following these the proprietors' name shall be given and also a list of resources and liabilities 
belonging to the business. Then the original entries may be made in the order of their occurrence, 
makirg each Dr. or Cr. as the case may be, so that it may be the more quickly posted into the Ledger. 

OPENING A NEW ACCOUNT. 
Chicago, III., Jan. 1, 190 — . 







W. F. Jennings began business today with the 














following: 














RESOURCES 














Cash 


556 


02 










Stock of Groceries 


300 


— 








5 


John Walling, Dr., balance 


200 


— 


1056 


02 






LIABILITIES 












6 


L. P. Johnson, Cr., balance 


75 


— 








7 


Hart and Co., Cr., balance 


150 


— 


225 


— 






3. 
J. P. Brown and Co., Boston. Cr. 












3 


Mdse. per Inv. No. 1 

5. 

L. P. Johnson Dr. 






236 


95 




6 


Stock of Groceries 

6. 






325 






10 


A. 0. Blakeslie Dr. 
6 bu. Potatoes .50 
1 gal. Vinegar 


3 


20 










25 lbs. Sugar 

10. 


1 


25 


4 


45 












6 


L. P. Johnson Cr. 
200 Sacks Flour . 50 






100 


— 



The Single Entry Cash Book saves the double purpose of showing all receipts and payments 
of cash, and also showing the personal accounts debited and credited for cash that require entry in 
the Ledger. 



478 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 

Cash. 



Dr. 



Cr. 



190— 














Apr. 


1 


Investment 


556 


02 








2 


Ticket Sales 


34 


75 








4 


L. P. Johnson 
Ticket Sales 


50 
53 


02 








5 


Rent, one Month 
Freight Inv. No. 1 






30 
2 


— 




6 


A. 0. Blakeslie on acct. 

J. B. Brown & Co., on acct. 


2 


— 


200 






8 


Exchange on Draft 
Ticket Sales 


40 


45 




10 




9 


Cleaning Store Room 
Balance 






2 
501 


50 
64 




736 


24 


736 


24 



The Ledger is not a book of original entries and hence every entry in it first must have an itemized 
record in some other book. The Ledger is generally ruled with date, explanation and amount 
columns for the debits on the left half of the page and the credits on the right half of the page. The 
items of the transactions are not commonly given in the Ledger; but, instead of this, a column is 
ruled next to the amount column for recording the page of the original book from which the entry 
is posted. Thus, the Ledger becomes a summary of debits and credits showing results without 
giving items, while a reference from the page column of the Ledger to the original book will give 
all necessary items and explanations. When posting, the Ledger page of the account should be 
written as a post-mark on the left margin of the original entry, which serves a double purpose. It 
indicates that the entry has been posted and also gives the page of the Ledger on which the entry 
may be found. 

L. P. Johnson. 



190— 

Jan. 

Apr. 


1 

4 


Day Book 
Cash 


1 
1 


325 

50 


— 


190— 
Jan. 

Apr. 


1 
10 
30 


Day Book 
Day Book 
Balance 


1 
1 


75 
100 
200 


— 






375 


— 






375 


— 






1 













Apr. 30 Balance 



200 



Brown & Co. 



190— 

Apr. 

Apr. 



6 
30 



Cash 
Balance 



1 


200 
36 


95 


190— 
Jan. 


3 
1 


236 


95 






May 



Day Book 


1 


236 




236 


Balance 


36 



95 

95 
95 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 

A. O. Blakeslee 



479 



190— 












190— 












Jan. 


10 


Day Book 


1 


4 


45 


Apr. 


6 


Cash 


1 


2 


— 






Balance 










30 


Balance 




2 


45 




4 


45 


4 


45 


May 


1 


2 


45 









STATEMENTS 

A statement is the summary of all the resources and liabilities, showing the present condition 
of the business. 

Resources include the balances which others owe us on account, the balance of cash on hand 
and in the bank, other people's notes and other written obligations payable to us, and the values 
of property shown in the inventory. 

Liabilities include balances which we owe others on account, our notes and other written obli- 
gations outstanding and amounts we owe as shown by the inventory. , 

Inventories are taken to show the present value of property not shown on the account books. 
Some business men prefer to take them only once a year and others take them twice a year. 

The sources of information from which statements are made are the following: 

Ledger: — If the debit side of an account is larger, the excess will be a resource. If the credit 
side is larger, the excess will be a liability. 

Cash Book: — If the received side is larger the excess will be a resource. It would seldom occur 
that the credit or paid out side would be larger. 

Note Book: — Other people's notes in our favor still unpaid are resources. Our notes still unpaid 
are liabilities. 

Inventory: — All property on hand, such as real estate, merchandise, chattels, stocks and bonds, 
interest receivable and expenses prepaid, if estimated at their market value, are resources. Expenses 
and interest payable and other obligations not shown on the book are liabilities. 



RULES RELATING TO STATEMENTS. 

1. To find the Present Worth, subtract the total liabilities from the total resources. 

2. To find the insolvency, subtract the total resources from the total liabilities. 

3. To find net gain, subtract the net capital at commencing from the present worth. 

4. To find net loss, subtract the present worth from the net capital. 

5. To find net capital, subtract the liabilities invested from the resources invested. 



480 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 
STATEMENT APRIL 30, 190—. 



Cash 
Ledger < 




Resources. 

Cash 
L. P. Johnson 
A. 0. Blakeslee 
John Walling 

Mdse. Unsold 

Rent and Insurance prepaid 

Total Resources 

Liabilities. 

Brown & Co. 
Hart & Co. 

Total Liabilities 

Present Worth 
Resources invested 
Liabilities invested 

Net Investment 

Net Gain 


• 200 

2 

200 


45 


501 
402 
566 


64 

45 


Invt. j 


546 
20 


95 


95 


Ledger i 


36 
150 


95 


1471 
186 


04 




1056 
225 


02 


95 




1284 
831 


09 








02 




453 


05 









DOUBLE ENTRY BOOKKEEPING 

In Double Entry Bookkeeping one of the principal books is the Journal — Day Book, each 
entry of which contains both a debit and a credit. 

GENERAL RULES FOR DEBIT AND CREDIT. 

Debit what costs or receives value; credit what produces or gives value. 

While the above rule is general it is necessary in order to make all journal entries that we know 
the special rules which are given below: 

1. Persons or Corporations should be debited for what they owe us, or what they receive from 
us on account, and credited for what we owe them, or what we receive from them on account. 

example: 



Jan. 



J. C. Olson 
Mdse. 



For invoice of goods 
he bought from us 



50 



50 



2. Cash account should be debited for all cash, or papers equivalent to cash, received and 
credited for all cash, or papers equivalent to cash paid out. 



example: 



Feb. 



Cash 
Mdse. 



Sold to J. Johnson 
Invoice of goods for cash 



56 



56 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



481 



3. Bills Receivable should be debited for all promissory notes and other written promises of 
others, when received and credited for the same when disposed of. 



Example : 



Feb. 



10 



Bills Receivable 
J. Hackett 



Received from J. 
Hackett his note to 
apply on acct. 



200 



200 



4. Bills Payable should be debited for face value of our notes and other written promises to 
others when we pay them; and credited for face value when we issue them. 



example: 



Feb. 



11 



5 
12 



Brown & Co. 
Bills Payable 



Gave Brown and 
Co. our note to apply 
on acct. 



500 



500 



5. The Proprietor or Partner should be debited for all liabilities assumed by the business for 
him, and for any money or property taken from business by him, and credited for any money or 
property received by the business from him. 



-example: 



Feb. 



15 



Cash 
L. Charles, prop. 



Begun business with 
cash investment of 
$4000 



4000 



4000 



6. Merchandise or other property title should be debited for the cost of all personal property, 
.or its worth when invested; and credited for all amounts realized from such property. 



Example: 



Feb. 



16 



Mdse. 
Cash 



Bought invoice of 
goods and paid for 
them in cash 



256 



50 



256 



50 



7. Real Estate should be debited for the cost of all fixed property, such as buildings, lots- and 
lands, on their value when invested; and credited for all amounts realized from such property. 



Example: 



Feb. 



17 



Cash 

Real Estate 



Received rent from 
house and lot No. 
216 



60 



60 



482 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 



8. Stocks should be debited for their cost, or any assessments we may have to pay while 
stockholder; and credited for value received from them. 

Example: 



Feb. 



18 



10 
12 



Stocks 

Bills Payable 



Bought Bond O. R. 
R. stock, giving my 
note in payment 



5000 



5000 



9. Expense should be debited for all outlays in conducting the business that cannot be debited 
directly to other accounts; and credited for all values returned directly from these outlays. 

Example: 



Feb. 



20 



Expense 
Cash 



Bought office station- 
ery and ink 



50 



50 



10. Interest and Discount should be debited for all interest paid or assumed by us and all dis- 
count allowed to others by us; and credited for all interest received by us and all discount allowed 
by others to us. 

Example: 



Feb. 



21 




Bills Payable 


Paid my note due to- 


500 






Int. 


day with interest 


9 






Cash 







50 



509 



50 



11. Loss and Gain should be debited for all losses that cannot be debited to other titles; and 
credited for all gains that cannot be credited to other titles. 

Example: 



Feb. 



25 



14 
15 



Loss and Gain 
J. J. Roe 



J. J. Roe has be- 
come a bankrupt 
owing us $50 no part 
of which he is liable 
to pay. 



50 



50 



Below will be given several Ledger accounts showing the form and method of closing the same. 

Proprietor. 



190— 

Sept. 

Oct. 



•1 

15 
1 



Cash Book 
Cash Book 
Present Worth 



5 


75 




Aug. 


6 


10 


50 


— 


Oct. 


1 




5125 


60 




1 




5250 


60 




Oct. 



Journal 
Net Gain 



Present Worth 



5000 
250 



5250 



5125 



60 



60 
60 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 

Mdse. 



483 



190— 
Aug. 



Sept. 
Oct. 



Oct. 



10 
12 

18 

15 

1 



Journal 
Journal 
Journal 
Journal 
Gain 



Inventory 



5 
5 
6 

8 
14 


600 

700 

250 

1250 

1840 


— 


190— 
Aug. 

Oct. 


11 

1 




4640 


— 


750 





Sale Book 
Sale Book 
Sale Book 

Inventory 



1 


550 


2 


890 


4 


950 


7 


1500 




750 


— 


4640 





Expense. 



190— 












190— 












Aug. 


1 


Cash Book 


3 


20 


— 


Oct. 


1 


Inventory 




30 


— 




2 


Cash Book 
Cash Book 


3 
3 


10 


05 






Loss and Gain 

• 


14 


32 


40 


Sept. 


4 

8 


Cash Book 
Cash Book 
Inventory 


3 
3 


1 
22 

8 


75 
60 


















62 


40 




62 


40 


Oct. 


1 


Inventory 




30 


— 


Oct. 


1 


Inventory 




8 


60 



Below will be given a form of Double Entry Trial Balance, Loss and Gain Statement and Balance 
Sheet: 

TRIAL BALANCE, JAN. 30, 190 . 





1 


Proprietor 


25 




800 






1 


Cash 


916 


90 


231 


75 




2 


Mdse. 


324 


05 


138 


85 




3 


H. P. Johnson 


150 


— 


279 


50 




5 


J. Smith 


25 


— 


30 


— 




5 


Expense 


22 


— 








2 


H. Mitchell 


8 


45 








3 


B. B. Allison 


13 


50 


4 


80 




1484 


90 


1484 


90 



LOSS AND GAIN STATEMENT. 

STATEMENT OF LOSSES AND GAINS, JAN. 30, 190 . 



Inventory of Mdse. 
Excess of cost over sales 

Mdse. Gain 

Expense cost 
Net Gain 



325.— 

185.20 



22 
117 

139 



80 



80 



139 



139 



80 



80 



484 



ENCYCLOPEDIA 

BALANCE SHEET, JAN. 30, 190 . 







ASSETS. 
















Cash 
Mdse. Inventory 
H. Mitchell 
B. B. Allison 




685 
325 

8 
8 


15 

45 
70 










LIABILITIES. 

H. P. Johnson 
J. Smith 
Proprietor, 

Investments 

Withdrawals 

Net Investment 
Net Gain 

Present Worth 


800.— 
25.— 






129 
5 

892 


50 




775.— 
117.80 








80 




1027 


30 


1027 


30 



I \ ~0 Mk 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



030 013 107 4 




